Smuggle

How to spell smuggle

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce smuggle

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does smuggle mean?

1. verbTo move goods or people secretly and illegally, especially across a border to avoid duties or detection.

Smuggle in a sentence

• The gang tried to smuggle cigarettes past the border checkpoint.

• She managed to smuggle a phone into the exam hall without anyone noticing.

Where does smuggle come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word came into English in the late 1600s from the Low German smuggeln, with a close relative in the Dutch smokkelen, both of which meant to convey goods secretly and illegally past the customs authorities. The underlying sense was one of slipping or sneaking something through unseen, which is why the word has always carried a flavour of concealment. English picked it up at a time when coastal trade and heavy import duties made the secret landing of goods a thriving business, so the term was practical and current from the start. Because the root entered through the Germanic seafaring world rather than from Latin or French, the spelling kept its plain, blunt look, including the doubled g that mirrors the short, sharp vowel before it. That doubled consonant after a single stressed vowel is the small trap in the spelling, exactly as in struggle and juggle.

How the word is built

• smuggl- (from Low German smuggeln: to move goods secretly)
• -e (verb ending)