as in to sell
to move (people or goods) from one country to another secretly and illegally
They were arrested for smuggling drugs across the border.
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Recent Examples of smuggle
With Wolfgang’s life in danger, his fellow monk Jos Niesen — a member of the Dutch resistance — attempted to smuggle Wolfgang to Switzerland.
—
Jackie Hajdenberg, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
Jarvis then spent eight years evading the FBI in Paris, London and Ibiza, after an industrial sized hash-smuggling operation went wrong.
—Richard Johnson, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2026
This isn’t a film about trauma, or smuggled-in social issues, or anything at all, really, besides the honest workaday business of scaring the bejesus out of its audience, rinsing, and repeating with extra vigor.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Apr. 2026
She's eventually smuggled out of Gilead.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 16 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smuggle
Jackie Hajdenberg, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
Jarvis then spent eight years evading the FBI in Paris, London and Ibiza, after an industrial sized hash-smuggling operation went wrong.
—Richard Johnson, New York Daily News, 19 Apr. 2026
This isn’t a film about trauma, or smuggled-in social issues, or anything at all, really, besides the honest workaday business of scaring the bejesus out of its audience, rinsing, and repeating with extra vigor.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 Apr. 2026
She's eventually smuggled out of Gilead.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 16 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for smuggle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smuggle
Verb
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Introduced in the 1970s, Roundup quickly became the top-selling herbicide in the United States and integral to farming.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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So was the Biden administration’s decision to block Nvidia from selling its most advanced AI chips to China in 2022.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The same survey was distributed April 8 to attendees of a community meeting at Markham courthouse, which drew more than 100 attendees in person and online, according to the county.—
Evy Lewis,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
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Behind the scenes, the hotel team reduces food waste through a number of initiatives, including distributing unused food to those in need through partnerships with local associations.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The recruitment has been part of that — Leipzig bought well and sold the players who needed to leave — but Werner has handled a young squad particularly well, minimising the volatility that was such a feature of their football last season.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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This simply cannot be done without the ability to buy land.—
Susan Carr,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The curators supply a historical backdrop, therefore, but discreetly, and without distracting us from Wright’s poetic originality.—
Julian Bell,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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Hyundai will supply its HiMSEN engines Data centers are the backbone of modern digital services, from cloud computing to artificial intelligence applications.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Smuggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smuggle. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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