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bootlegger

/ˈbutˌlɛɡər/
IPA guide

Other forms: bootleggers

A bootlegger is someone who sells illegal goods. Today, bootleggers are most likely to sell pirated movies or music.

This word comes from bootleg and, in particular, the trick of hiding a flask inside a boot. Bootleggers smuggle illegal things, and sometimes legal goods too, in order to avoid paying taxes. During Prohibition in the U.S., bootleggers supplied speakeasies with alcohol. There are a number of other, less common words inspired by bootlegger: meatlegger was coined during World War II's meat rationing and booklegger refers to someone who imports banned books.

Definitions of bootlegger
  1. noun
    someone who makes or sells illegal goods, especially illegal liquor
    synonyms: moonshiner
    see moresee less
    type of:
    criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw
    someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
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