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

Example 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
The Silk Road was a black market website that could only be accessed via using the not-always-perfectly-private Tor browser. Kate Irwin, PCMAG, 22 Jan. 2025 On the flip side, conservative free market groups and law enforcement associations argue the proposal would amount to a ban on cigarettes, supercharging a black market for illicit products. Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 13 Jan. 2025
Verb
Not long afterward, Garner began to transition, purchasing black-market estrogen. Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 2 Jan. 2025 Many will recognize him as a big-dino hunter in The Lost World (1997), a German nihilist in The Big Lebowski, a diabolical black-market eye surgeon in Minority Report (2002), or the devil himself in Constantine (2005). Danny Horn, EW.com, 29 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for black market
Recent Examples of Synonyms for black market
Noun
  • So cap isn’t an issue if the Blues are considering any trades that can upgrade the roster.
    Jeremy Rutherford, The Athletic, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The Bears struck twice before free agency with a pair of trades for offensive linemen Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson from the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams, respectively, addressing one of their biggest positions of need.
    Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune, 6 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Beginning in September 2022, the FBI and Hartford Police Department interviewed several Mexican nationals who alleged that they were smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. and transported to Hartford, court records show.
    Staff report, Hartford Courant, 8 Mar. 2025
  • The Jalisco cartel is better known for producing millions of doses of deadly fentanyl and smuggling them into the U.S. disguised to look like Xanax, Percocet or oxycodone.
    CBS News, CBS News, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Nevertheless, reports indicate that gray market resellers are utilizing entities registered outside China to purchase servers incorporating Nvidia’s latest offerings from companies based in several countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
    Trefis Team, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
  • And of the many unlicensed home care aides who work in gray market, many are immigrants, including many who are undocumented.
    Howard Gleckman, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • One of the best parts about Traders Village though is haggling over pricing with dealers, who are often willing to negotiate, or even barter.
    Amanda Ogle, Southern Living, 16 Dec. 2024
  • Also staggering is the way the fraud schemes worked, where vulnerable patients were financial assets, used and bartered for the benefit of the people stealing taxpayer dollars.
    Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 26 Jan. 2024
Noun
  • And more people chose to work for themselves, submitting far more business applications than before the pandemic.
    Aatish Bhatia, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Lined by ocean beaches, the region is known as a summer vacation destination, cultural province and site of mansions owned by business executives and entertainers.
    Dade Hayes, Deadline, 9 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • In 1920s Anaheim, the big local issue was bootlegging and Catholics, who were seen as foreigners in what was supposed to be an Anglo-Saxon Protestant country.
    Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2025
  • In Chicago, as in other major cities, a few high-profile mobsters battled it out for bootlegging supremacy.
    Sarah Holzmann, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • This isn’t the first time that Fanatics has partnered with another marketplace to cross-list its product.
    Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 5 Mar. 2025
  • Treating compliance as a springboard for innovation can set organizations apart in a rapidly changing marketplace.
    Hans Dekkers, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Here is what may be next for Israel and Gaza Under the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on January 19, Hamas has so far exchanged 33 Israeli hostages for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees and has also freed five Thai hostages.
    Nidal al-Mughrabi, USA TODAY, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Former board chair Kim Silvers, who was owner and founder of Silvers HR, LLC, exchanged human resources services for on-air announcements of her business, according to documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
    Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 10 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Black market.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/black%20market. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.

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