smuggle
/ˈsmʌɡ(ə)l
/verb [with object]
1Move (goods) illegally into or out of a country: he’s been smuggling cigarettes from Gibraltar into Spain (as noun smuggling) cocaine smuggling has increased alarmingly...
- Revenue was also busy cracking illegal cigarette and tobacco smuggling.
- They also have enforcement of copyright laws and tighter control on pirated goods being smuggled into the country.
- The pictures show baby lemurs from Madagascar that have been illegally smuggled into the country.
1.1 [with object and adverbial of direction] Convey (someone or something) somewhere secretly and illicitly: he smuggled out a message...
- In three of these students were found to have secretly smuggled mobile phones into the examination rooms.
- The film was smuggled into Indonesia aboard a repatriation ship and given a lot of publicity in the republican press.
- One was posing as a baggage handler from London's International Airport, and he smuggled weapons aboard.
Synonyms
bring/take illegally, run, sneak
Origin
Late 17th century: from Low German smuggelen, of unknown ultimate origin.