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
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have smuggledperfect
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has smuggledperfect 3rd person singular
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are smugglingprogressive
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has been smugglingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am smugglingprogressive 1st person singular
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smugglessingular 3rd person
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smugglingparticiple
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have been smugglingperfect progressive
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is smugglingprogressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had smuggledperfect
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were smugglingprogressive plural
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had been smugglingperfect progressive
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smuggledsimple
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was smugglingprogressive singular
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smuggledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of smuggle
1680–90; < Low German smuggeln; cognate with German schmuggeln
Explanation
If you import or export something without paying customs duties, you smuggle it. All kinds of things have been smuggled over the years: art, alcohol, drugs, animals, even tea! The verb smuggle has expanded to generally mean to bring something in or out in secret, especially if doing so breaks a rule or a law. Kids may smuggle candy into a movie theater so they don't have to pay the high prices at the concession stand. You may smuggle Christmas presents into the house so your kids don't see them. Illegal immigrants may be smuggled into the country for a fee, but if caught they can be deported.
Vocabulary lists containing smuggle
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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The Circuit
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Enrique's Journey
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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.
For years, authorities say, Ghomi used an intermediary in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to smuggle U.S. tech into his home country of Iran, where he is a dual-citizen.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
Last month, Sri Lankan customs officials intercepted nine Chinese nationals attempting to smuggle used mobile phones and laptops in the hundreds, raising suspicion they were to be used in large-scale fraud operations.
From Barron's • May 17, 2026
Independent benchmarks confirm that Pangram outperforms every other detector tested and is robust against “humanizers,” or software designed to smuggle A.I. text past detectors.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
Super Micro got hit hard last week after one of its board members was arrested by federal authorities under charges of helping to smuggle Nvidia chips to China.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
They begin haggling over a price like I've seen the women in jail do when someone has been able to smuggle in a thing from outside that everyone else wants.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
