BLACK MARKET Definition & Meaning

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black market

noun

the illicit buying and selling of goods in violation of legal price controls, rationing, etc.
a place where such activity is carried on.

black-market

[ blak-mahr-kit ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

to black-marketeer.

verb (used with object)

to sell (something) in the black market.

black market

noun

1. any system in which goods or currencies are sold and bought illegally, esp in violation of controls or rationing
2. ( as modifier )
  black market lamb
the place where such a system operates

verb

to sell (goods) on the 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.

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Derived Forms

black marketeer, noun

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of black market¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Origin of black market²

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

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The majority of the UK's exported waste tyres are sold into the Indian black market, and this is well known within the industry, BBC File on 4 Investigates has been told.

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Department of Justice attorneys say the native North American species is coveted by a rising middle class and are worth at least $2,000 each on the black market.

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"People slide along on that low level of income, perhaps dipping into the black market, but their aspirations are so low and the communities do not change."

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Abalone remain the target of poachers, and there is an extensive black market that pays a premium for them, Windsor police said.

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Using contraband cellphones from his prison cell, Torres oversaw a black market for extorted commissary goods called the “kitty.”

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