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
Reports from Ukraine Oversight, a U.S. government website tracking military assistance, indicate that while some weapons have gone missing in combat zones, there is no evidence of significant black market sales at the level Carlson suggests. Dan Perry, Newsweek, 13 Feb. 2025 Even many storefront shops around the U.S. are selling black market weed. Brian Mann, NPR, 3 Feb. 2025
Verb
The Substance, also starring Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid, follows a fading celebrity who takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Jan. 2025 Not long afterward, Garner began to transition, purchasing black-market estrogen. Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 2 Jan. 2025 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
  • Higher earners have more to spend, and stable countries build stable economies, creating markets for U.S. trade and providing new business opportunities for American investment abroad.
    Sarah Ferguson, Forbes, 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
  • Salim voices its central character, who goes on dangerous missions for the God of Death to barter for the life of his late father.
    EW.com, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2025
  • That means Congress is being left to barter over what else can save or raise money, and whose federal benefits might be cut.
    Talmon Joseph Smith, New York Times, 22 Feb. 2025
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
  • Musk has gotten rid of regulators who just happen to oversee his businesses, in agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and USAID.
    Kara Swisher, The Atlantic, 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
  • Treating compliance as a springboard for innovation can set organizations apart in a rapidly changing marketplace.
    Hans Dekkers, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025
  • 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
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 19 Mar. 2025.

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