Wiktionary

black market

See also: black-market

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Ca. 1930, probably a calque of German Schwarzmarkt, which is attested from the 1910s. Compare Schwärzer (“smuggler”, 18th c.).

Pronunciation edit

  • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Noun edit

black market (plural black markets)

  1. Trade that is in violation of restrictions, rationing, or price controls.
    • 2004, George Carlin, “THE FANATICS WILL WIN”, in When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?‎[1], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, page 135:
      Peace and order will not be tolerated. Start saving your cash for the black market, folks, you're gonna need it.
    • 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club‎[2]:
      In District 12, a dirt-poor coal-mining community that looks like a Dorothea Lange photograph, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) quietly rebels against the system by hunting game in a forbidden area with her friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and trading it on the black market.
    • 2023 December 22, Robyn Vinter, “Britons increasingly turning to food black market, experts say”, in The Guardian‎[3], →ISSN:
      Increasing numbers of people are turning to a growing black market for food to supplement their diets as prices rocket, experts have said.
  2. (collective) The people who engage in such trade, or that sector of the economy.

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