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black-market

 - 5 dictionary results

black market

 
Use black-market in a Sentence
–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:
1930–35

black-mar⋅ket

  [blak-mahr-kit]
–verb (used without object)
1. to black-marketeer.
–verb (used with object)
2. to sell (something) in the black market.
Origin:
1930–35; v. use of black market
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To black-market
black market  
n.  

  1. The illegal business of buying or selling goods or currency in violation of restrictions such as price controls or rationing.

  2. A place where these illegal operations are carried on.

black'-mar'ket (blāk'mär'kĭt) adj., black'-mar'ket·er, black'-mar'ket·eer' (-mär'kĭ-tîr') n., black'-mar'ket·eer'ing n.
black-mar·ket   (blāk'mär'kĭt)
tr.v.   black-mar·ket·ed, black-mar·ket·ing, black-mar·kets
To trade (something) in the black market.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Cultural Dictionary

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 American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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