black market 1 of 2

as in trade
a system through which things are bought and sold illegally The black market in prescription drugs is thriving. They unloaded the stolen goods on the black market.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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black-market

2 of 2

verb

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of black market
Noun
He was allegedly involved in black market sales during World War II. Phil Wahba, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2024 This data can be sold on the black market or used in identity theft schemes. Alexei Dulub, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
Verb
The dynamic in Antioch is a microcosm of greater California, where lax laws on black-market weed are doing little to change the state’s status as a gargantuan producer of it. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2024 This priority is so all-consuming that even the already reed-like Kristina seeks dangerous extra credit, dumping her dinners outside her bedroom window, and procuring a black-market tapeworm to further hollow out her insides. Guy Lodge, Variety, 17 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for black market 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for black market
Noun
  • The two seamlessly trade roles, each adding new layers to the track.
    Quincy Green, Billboard, 22 Nov. 2024
  • Currently, 10 states, including Florida, have any such mandate, according to the American Staffing Association, a trade group for the staffing industry.
    Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Now, the nonprofit is also using the cat-size rodents to smell their way through the crafty disguises employed by wildlife traffickers looking to smuggle ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horns.
    Ashley Strickland, CNN, 2 Nov. 2024
  • Last year, a pair of men in Hong Kong used shipments of live lobsters to smuggle out Nvidia GPUs.
    Michael Kan, PCMAG, 1 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • Of course, some gray markets use bitcoin in the West, too, where industries may be legal, but the banks frown on them, like marijuana sales in some states and countries and things like that.
    Steven Ehrlich, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
  • Sans introduced the elephant in the room — the gray market — which has fueled revenues for independent retailers for the past 10 years.
    Martino Carrera, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
  • The old town medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and crowds jostle to examine products laid out in the streets and hear the sound of bartering in more languages than can be named.
    Elle Benson Easton, Travel + Leisure, 2 Nov. 2024
  • But states such as India and Egypt rejected the legitimacy of the UN embargo, and Beijing was able to barter (often on disadvantageous terms) with countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka in order to avoid isolation.
    Timothy Nunan, Foreign Affairs, 10 Oct. 2017
Noun
  • The company intends to raise additional funds through public or private offerings to support its operations and business plan.
    Quartz Bot, Quartz, 15 Nov. 2024
  • Owens was campaigning for re-election when the developers flew him and others to Nashville on a private jet in October 2023 to discuss business opportunities in Jackson.
    Bracey Harris, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • This was the era of Prohibition, dominated by bootlegging gangsters—Chicago alone was said to be home to 1,300 gangs—and some police departments adopted increasingly brutal tactics to wring the truth out of suspects: beating and burning detainees with cigarettes, or depriving them of sleep.
    Susan Saulny, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024
  • Land of the Free, Home of the Bootleggers When technology made music mobile, the American South changed from one type of bootlegging industry to another: copying and selling records.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Noun
  • Seeing an opportunity to tap into people’s emotions and wallets, online stores and marketplaces selling political merchandise now sell merchandise with not only a candidate’s name but also quotes, taglines, facial images and more.
    Rytis Lauris, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
  • In addition to going after higher-income fashion shoppers with its online marketplace, Walmart has been sharpening its in-store presentation and looking to transform very large private label programs into national brands.
    Evan Clark, WWD, 20 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • The company’s at-home kits allow customers to exchange a saliva sample for insights into their genome relating to things such as their possible ancestry, health, and food preferences.
    Bruce Gil, Quartz, 12 Nov. 2024
  • The independent investigators also reported that Welby and Smyth crossed paths at Christian holiday camps run by a British trust from 1975 to 1979 and exchanged Christmas cards for several years.
    Hannah Peart, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near black market

blackmails

black market

black-market

Cite this Entry

“Black market.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/black%20market. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

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