December 29, 2012
- smuggle (verb)
- What does it mean?
- 1 : to export or import secretly and unlawfully especially to avoid paying taxes2 : to take, bring, or introduce secretly
- How do you use it?
- "Every day or two, during this time of sorrow, Tom watched his opportunity and went to the little grated jail-window and smuggled such small comforts through to the ‘murderer' as he could get hold of." (Mark Twain, _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_)
- Are you a word wiz?
Which of these statements about "smuggle" do you think is true?You don't need to keep it a secret if you chose A. English speakers first began using the word in the late 1600s as "smuckle," and quickly changed it to "smuggle." Both forms correspond to the parent words of "smuggle," which derives from the Dutch word "smokkelen" and the Low German word "smuggeln." (Low German is the name given to the German dialects of northern Germany especially as used since the end of the Middle Ages.) "Smuggler," the word for a person who smuggles, is just a little bit older than the verb "smuggle."