rumrunner

[ ruhm-ruhn-er ]

noun

1. a person or ship engaged in smuggling liquor.

Other Words From

• rumrunning noun adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rumrunner¹

An Americanism dating back to 1920; rum ¹ + runner

Example Sentences

And by doing that, these rumrunners, you know, who worked for Al Capone or whoever else, were able to sort of run circles around the Coast Guard.

From Scientific American

Head of the Coast Guard’s Intelligence Section—and, for a time, its only member—he tracked every detail he could discover about the rumrunners’ vessels.

From Literature

A Detroit chorus girl weds her stage producer without telling her rumrunner boyfriend.

From Los Angeles Times

“And we worked on the rumrunners’ boats, too,” he adds with a laugh.

From Seattle Times

But as the lone branch of the military that serves as a law-enforcement agency, the 227-year-old service has also long been in the business of interdicting contraband, from Chinese opium smugglers to Prohibition rumrunners.

From New York Times