black market

See synonyms for black market on Thesaurus.com
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.

Origin of black market

1
First recorded in 1930–35

Other definitions for black-market (2 of 2)

black-market
[ blak-mahr-kit ]

verb (used without object)
  1. to black-marketeer.

verb (used with object)
  1. to sell (something) in the black market.

Origin of black-market

2
First recorded in 1930–35; v. use of black market

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use black market in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for black market

black market

noun
    • any system in which goods or currencies are sold and bought illegally, esp in violation of controls or rationing

    • (as modifier): black market lamb

  1. the place where such a system operates

verbblack-market
  1. to sell (goods) on the black market

Derived forms of black market

  • black marketeer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for black market

black market

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.