smuggle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to import or export (goods) secretly, in violation of the law, especially without payment of legal duty.
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to bring, take, put, etc., surreptitiously.
She smuggled the gun into the jail inside a cake.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to import or export (prohibited or dutiable goods) secretly
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(tr; often foll by into or out of) to bring or take secretly, as against the law or rules
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to conceal; hide
Other Word Forms
- antismuggling adjective
- smuggler noun
- smuggling noun
- unsmuggled adjective
Etymology
Origin of smuggle
1680–90; < Low German smuggeln; cognate with German schmuggeln
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You may remember those matches from “Forrest Gump,” but Tom Hanks’ guileless sweetheart would never use the sport to smuggle gold bars out of Hong Kong, as the real Reisman once did.
From Los Angeles Times
Ransone's character was also the cousin of Nick Sabotka, Frank's nephew, who becomes increasingly involved with the criminals who want to smuggle contraband through the docks.
From BBC
They also smuggled in equipment and paid workmen to rehabilitate water and electricity infrastructure.
From Los Angeles Times
Most of the illegally-mined gold is smuggled out to the United Arab Emirates, from where it is laundered into the global supply chain in Europe, the United States, Asia and South Africa.
From Barron's
It’s music criticism smuggled into a Hollywood smash.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
