rumrunner
noun
rum·run·ner
ˈrəm-ˌrə-nər 
: a person or ship engaged in bringing prohibited liquor ashore or across a border
Examples of rumrunner in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Or it could have been thrown out of a ship by a rumrunner during Prohibition.
—
Jura Koncius, Washington Post, 16 June 2022
To all the Robinson Crusoes and Counts of Monte Cristo add Marian Graves, a towheaded tomboy who lives as many lives as any great swashbuckler: teenage rumrunner in Prohibition-era Montana, pilot behind enemy lines in WWII Europe — even muse to modern-day Hollywood.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 9 Dec. 2021
Five weeks after the rumrunner sank in Whale Cove and its sailors were arrested, Paul Remaley and two other shotgun-toting men slipped into the Lincoln County Jail late on a Saturday night.
—oregonlive, 15 June 2021
They were followed by San Franciscans who had lost their homes in the earthquake and fires of 1906, and then by opportunistic bootleggers and rumrunners.
—Joe Kloc, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019
The museum is also home to the Prohibition-era Coast Guard Cutter McClane, which was commissioned in 1927 to hunt rumrunners and bootleggers.
—Brian E. Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 June 2018
Other presidents have used it to absolve pirates, participants in tax rebellions, ex-Confederates, polygamous Mormons, socialists, anarchists, rumrunners, Puerto Rican nationalists, Vietnam War draft-dodgers, and Jimmy Hoffa.
—Matt Ford, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2017
Williams’ narrative offers a tropical milieu of rumrunners, skulduggery, concealed identity, dangerous complications for Virginia and her toddler daughter Evelyn — and lots of entertainment for readers.
—Melinda Bargreen, The Seattle Times, 29 June 2017
But the America's Cup rumrunners travel at gale force speeds.
—Luke O'Brien, Town & Country, 1 Sep. 2013
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Jura Koncius, Washington Post, 16 June 2022
To all the Robinson Crusoes and Counts of Monte Cristo add Marian Graves, a towheaded tomboy who lives as many lives as any great swashbuckler: teenage rumrunner in Prohibition-era Montana, pilot behind enemy lines in WWII Europe — even muse to modern-day Hollywood.
—Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 9 Dec. 2021
Five weeks after the rumrunner sank in Whale Cove and its sailors were arrested, Paul Remaley and two other shotgun-toting men slipped into the Lincoln County Jail late on a Saturday night.
—oregonlive, 15 June 2021
They were followed by San Franciscans who had lost their homes in the earthquake and fires of 1906, and then by opportunistic bootleggers and rumrunners.
—Joe Kloc, Harper's magazine, 10 June 2019
The museum is also home to the Prohibition-era Coast Guard Cutter McClane, which was commissioned in 1927 to hunt rumrunners and bootleggers.
—Brian E. Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 22 June 2018
Other presidents have used it to absolve pirates, participants in tax rebellions, ex-Confederates, polygamous Mormons, socialists, anarchists, rumrunners, Puerto Rican nationalists, Vietnam War draft-dodgers, and Jimmy Hoffa.
—Matt Ford, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2017
Williams’ narrative offers a tropical milieu of rumrunners, skulduggery, concealed identity, dangerous complications for Virginia and her toddler daughter Evelyn — and lots of entertainment for readers.
—Melinda Bargreen, The Seattle Times, 29 June 2017
But the America's Cup rumrunners travel at gale force speeds.
—Luke O'Brien, Town & Country, 1 Sep. 2013
Cite this Entry
“Rumrunner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rumrunner. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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