Definition

1. Noun:

   • Goods whose importation, exportation, or possession is prohibited by law: "Contraband" refers to items that are illegal to bring into or take out of a country, or to own.
   • The act or process of smuggling such goods: It can also refer to the illegal trade or smuggling activity itself.

2. Adjective:

   • Distributed or sold illicitly; smuggled: Describes goods that are illegally traded or possessed.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Customs officials seized a large shipment of contraband at the border.
  • The trade in drug contraband is a major problem for law enforcement.

• Adjective:

  • The police discovered a warehouse full of contraband cigarettes.
  • He was arrested for possessing contraband goods.

Advanced Usage

• "to declare something contraband": to officially state that an item is illegal to trade or possess.

  • The government declared the new synthetic drug to be contraband.

• "contraband of war": (historical/legal) goods that a neutral country is forbidden from supplying to a belligerent nation during a war.

  • The ship was seized for carrying contraband of war.

Variants and Related Words

• Contrabandist (n): A person who smuggles contraband goods; a smuggler.
  • The contrabandist was caught trying to cross the desert.

Synonyms

• Noun: Smuggled goods, illegal goods, bootleg, prohibited items.
• Adjective: Illegal, illicit, bootleg, black-market, smuggled.

Related Phrases

• "to run contraband": to engage in the smuggling of illegal goods.
  • The gang was known to run contraband along the coast.

Related Idioms

• "Contraband goods have no warranty": (Proverb) This implies that because illegal goods are outside the law, the buyer has no legal protection or recourse if the goods are faulty.
  • When he bought the fake watch from the street vendor, he learned the hard way that contraband goods have no warranty.

Adjective

1. distributed or sold illicitly
   • the black economy pays no taxes

Noun

1. goods whose importation or exportation or possession is prohibited by law