black market

¹

noun

1. the illicit buying and selling of goods in violation of legal price controls, rationing, etc.
2. a place where such activity is carried on.

black-market

²

[ blak-mahr-kit ]

verb (used without object)

1. to black-marketeer.

verb (used with object)

1. to sell (something) in the black market.

black market

noun

1. 1. any system in which goods or currencies are sold and bought illegally, esp in violation of controls or rationing
   2. ( as modifier )

      black market lamb

2. the place where such a system operates

verb

1. to sell (goods) on the black market

black market

1. The illegal buying and selling of goods above the price fixed by a government. Black markets usually develop when, because of war, disaster, or public policy, a government tries to set prices for commodities instead of allowing the normal operations of supply and demand to set prices.

Derived Forms

• black marketeer, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of black market¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Origin of black market²

First recorded in 1930–35; v. use of black market

Example Sentences

The Arabs offered the Nazis a haven, as well as a market for all their nefarious dealings in arms and black market currency.

From The Daily Beast

In the last days of the Soviet Union, there was a going black market in burned-out light-bulbs.

From The Daily Beast

While the end of prohibition brought an end to the alcohol black market in America, the ubiquity of it brought its own problems.

From The Daily Beast

Inside the country's only wildlife forensics lab, where scientists hunt down black-market animal smugglers.

From The Daily Beast

Poaching fell off dramatically, and the black market price of ivory dropped.

From The Daily Beast

It seemed to her that the men might be identified through Black Market operators with whom they must have dealings.

From Project Gutenberg

Nothing very reliable was available in the black market without more notice.

From Project Gutenberg

Even the most respectable businessmen were doing occasional business with the black market in technological devices.

From Project Gutenberg

Vernon Trask was the go-between for some of the biggest black market operators in the country.

From Project Gutenberg

There still were crooks who thought that the black market dealt in stolen goods of that sort.

From Project Gutenberg