bootleg
noun
boot·leg
| \ ˈbüt-ˌleg
, -ˌlāg\
, -ˌlāg\
Definition of bootleg
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: the upper part of a boot
3
: a football play in which the quarterback fakes a handoff, hides the ball against his hip, and rolls out — compare draw entry 2 sense 8
bootleg
verb
bootlegged;
bootlegging;
bootlegs
Definition of bootleg (Entry 2 of 2)
1a
: to carry (alcoholic liquor) on one's person illegally
b
: to manufacture, sell, or transport for sale (alcoholic liquor) illegally
2a
: to produce, reproduce, or distribute illicitly or without authorization
b
: smuggle
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Synonyms for bootleg
Synonyms: Noun
moonshine, mountain dew, white lightning
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Examples of bootleg in a Sentence
Noun
She was arrested for selling bootlegs online. getting caught with bootleg during Prohibition could have resulted in a jail sentenceVerb
He bootlegged the show and gave copies to several friends.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Here, that means loosening the timing on later progression reads and featuring more bootlegs and rollouts to highlight Darnold’s on-the-move throwing. — Andy Benoit, SI.com, "Le’Veon Bell, Jamison Crowder Should Give Jets More Offensive Firepower," 12 Aug. 2019 Some of Morphine's bootlegs came from jam-band fans who'd been to the Horde Festival. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "The DMCA bell did not toll for a beloved musician—thus, I could grieve him," 6 July 2019 Now, 10 years following what is widely considered to be one of Gaga's greatest performances to date, MTV re-released the official footage of the performance -- long only available via bootleg -- on YouTube. — Stephen Daw, Billboard, "Don't Forget: Lady Gaga's '09 VMAs Performance Should Have Been the Night's Breakout Moment," 21 Aug. 2019 Most musicians are record collectors, and every record collector has an acquisitive gene that drives him or her to chase down the hallowed bootleg, the alternate take, the rare remix. — John Kelly, Washington Post, "Shelf stable: D.C. musician John Davis keeps punk alive at a U-Md. library," 20 Aug. 2019 On the next play, Lock looked comfortable on a bootleg to the right before throwing 12 yards to receiver Nick Williams. — Ryan O'halloran, The Denver Post, "Broncos score early, late to defeat Atlanta in preseason opener," 1 Aug. 2019 The video has been scrubbed from the Internet, with only low-quality bootleg versions floating around. — Klara Auerbach, Washington Post, "How two superstars, four words, and 15 seconds of TV influenced a decade of pop culture," 14 Aug. 2019 Her approach comes out of the early online communities that sprang up around shows, where fans could kibitz and argue, exchanging detailed exegeses of episodes and (back then) bootleg videotapes. — Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, "A TV Critic Who Has Seen the Small Screen Become Huge," 3 July 2019 Hardcore fans have relied on old, expensive DVD sets and digital bootlegs to watch the series, a passing-around-the-tapes network that has kept the memory of Eva alive until its sudden reemergence into the mainstream in 2019. — Julie Muncy, WIRED, "Neon Genesis Evangelion Is Remarkably Relevant in 2019," 2 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Most of their neighbors were inside tents, playing video games or watching movies on their cellphones, electricity bootlegged from a city utility box. — Los Angeles Times, "After 9 years on L.A.’s streets, Big Mama needed a home. But it wasn’t that easy," 15 Aug. 2019 But the extras still include a wealth of alternate early takes and demos that have mostly never been released or bootlegged before. — Chris Willman, chicagotribune.com, "Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ to get deluxe 50-year treatment in September," 8 Aug. 2019 Meanwhile, today’s nationalists are happy to demonize a China that bootlegs Mickey Mouse but are silent about the very same China that rounds up internal enemies and puts them in concentration camps. — Jonah Goldberg, National Review, "Why Won’t American Politicians Talk about Chinese Authoritarianism?," 26 June 2019 There was also talk that O’Hara’s mill businesses in Fall River were actually fronts to launder money from bootlegging operations along the New Bedford-Fall River coastline. — Richard E. Farley, Town & Country, "The Great American Racetrack War," 9 June 2017 Newton got the linebackers and safeties to freeze on a fake to Jonathan Stewart, bootlegged to his left and dropped a pass to a wide-open Dickson, who rumbled for 57 yards before again being dragged down inside the 10. — Joseph Person, charlotteobserver, "Leave it to a teammate to point out weaknesses in Panthers TE Ed Dickson’s record day," 9 Oct. 2017 The next year in Iowa City, Long faked a handoff into the line and bootlegged around the right side untouched for a touchdown with barely any time left to lead No. — Scott Dochterman, ajc, "Iowa-Michigan State: Recap, score, analysis for Week 5 game," 30 Sep. 2017 And the cartoons all look great on the app — a lot of this material is frequently bootlegged onto YouTube in inferior-looking versions. — Glenn Kenny, New York Times, "Boomerang and Crunchyroll: Of Old Cartoons and Fresh Anime," 11 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bootleg.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for bootleg
bootleg
noun
English Language Learners Definition of bootleg
(Entry 1 of 2)
: an illegal copy of a video, CD, etc., or an illegal recording of a live performance
: alcohol that is made or sold illegally
bootleg
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of bootleg (Entry 2 of 2)
: to illegally copy (a video, CD, etc.) or illegally record (a live performance)
: to make or sell (alcoholic liquor) illegally
See the full definition for bootleg in the English Language Learners Dictionary
bootleg
noun
boot·leg
Legal Definition of bootleg
(Entry 1 of 2)
: something bootlegged