con·tra·band (kŏn'trə-bănd')
n.

1. Goods prohibited by law or treaty from being imported or exported.
2. 1. Illegal traffic in contraband; smuggling.
   2. Smuggled goods.
3. Goods that may be seized and confiscated by a belligerent if shipped to another belligerent by a neutral.
4. An escaped slave during the Civil War who fled to or was taken behind Union lines.

adj.
Prohibited from being imported or exported.

[Italian contrabbando : contra-, against (from Latin contrā-; see contra-) + bando, legal proclamation (from Late Latin bannus , of Germanic origin).]

contrabandage con'tra·band'age n.
contrabandist con'tra·band'ist n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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