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contraband

con·tra·band

contraband

 
 
pronunciation:
kan tr baend
parts of speech:
noun, adjective
features:
Word Combinations (noun, adjective)
part of speech: noun
definition 1: goods banned by law from being imported or exported.
After diplomatic ties with that country were broken off, all products made there became contraband in the U.S.
definition 2: goods smuggled into or out of a country.
Customs officials searched their luggage for drugs and other contraband.
definition 3: the activity of smuggling.
The animal dealers were arrested for contraband.
definition 4: during the American Civil War, a slave under the Confederacy who fled to or was taken into territory occupied by Union forces. Such fugitive slaves were, in a sense, free, in that they were not returned by the Union to Confederate slave owners. Instead, however, they were declared captured enemy war materials, or "contraband of war." Thousands of contrabands worked as paid, though exploited, laborers for the Union.
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part of speech: adjective
definition: banned by law from being imported or exported.
They had obtained several contraband guns.
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