contraband
/'kɔntrəbænd/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
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.
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
- distributed or sold illicitly
- the black economy pays no taxes
Noun
- goods whose importation or exportation or possession is prohibited by law