smuggle
English · Thesaurus
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smuggle
- /ˈsmʌɡəl/
Rhymes with -ʌɡəl
Where it comes from
From earlier smuckle, either from Dutch smokkelen (“to smuggle”), a frequentative form of Middle Dutch smūken (“to act secretly, be sneaky”), from Old Dutch *smugan, or from Dutch Low Saxon or German Low German smuggeln; all are from Proto-West Germanic *smeugan (“to creep; slip through or into”).
cognates and related terms
Cognate with Saterland Frisian smuggelje (“to smuggle”), West Frisian smokkelje (“to smuggle”), German Low German smuggeln, smuckeln (“to move insidiously, smuggle”), German schmuggeln (“to smuggle”), Danish smugle (“to smuggle”), Swedish smuggla (“to smuggle”). Related also to Icelandic smjúga (“to creep, penetrate”), Swedish smyga (“to sneak, slip, crawl, lurk, steal”), German schmiegen (“to nestle, wrap, snuggle”), Old English smēogan, smūgan (“to creep, crawl, move gradually, penetrate”).
verb smuggles · smuggling · smuggled · smuckle
-
To import or export, illicitly or by stealth, without paying lawful customs charges or duties.
A lorry driver who smuggled illegal immigrants into the UK in the back of his trailer has been jailed.
Similar: run
- To bring in surreptitiously. 22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttps://web.archive.org/web/20120324175255/http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/ While Collins does include a love triangle, a coming-of-age story, and other YA-friendly elements in the mix, they serve as a Trojan horse to smuggle
- To fondle or cuddle.
- To thrash or be thrashed by a bear's claws, or to swipe at or be swiped at by a person's arms in a bearlike manner. England finally found some urgency in the closing stages, when O'Reilly held his head in his hands after hitting the woodwork, with Guehi similarly disappointed to see his header smuggled off the line.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: bootleg, contraband, trafficking, move, pass, escape, flee, enter, spend, bring, introduce, smuggle past, sneak in, steal, sneak, ride dirty
Translations
Every language
verb to import or export, illicitly or by stealth, without paying lawful customs charges or duties
| Español | contrabandear, pasar de contrabando |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 밀수하다 milsuhada |
| 日本語 | 密輸する mitsuyu suru |
| 中文 | 走私 zǒusī, 私運 /私运 sīyùn |
| हिन्दी | तस्करी करना taskarī karnā, तस्करी taskarī |
| Português | contrabandear |
| Français | passer en contrebande, contrebander |
| Deutsch | schmuggeln |
| Italiano | contrabbandare |
| Română | contrabanda |
| Русский | провози́ть контраба́ндой provozítʹ kontrabándoj |
| Tiếng Việt | buôn lậu |
| العربية | هَرَّبَ harraba |
| עברית | הבריח |
verb to bring in surreptitiously
| Deutsch | schmuggeln |
|---|
Talk about this word "smuggle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/smuggle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. smuggle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/smuggle "smuggle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/smuggle.Cite this
@misc{smuggle_2026,
title = {smuggle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/smuggle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
