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boot·leg (btlĕg′)
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v. boot·legged, boot·leg·ging, boot·legs
v.tr.
1. To make, sell, or transport (alcoholic liquor) for sale illegally.
2. To produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally: a clandestine outfit that bootlegs compact discs and tapes.
v.intr.
1. To engage in the bootlegging of alcoholic liquor or another product.
2. To attach a transmitter to a dish antenna, creating an uplink via which a signal is sent to a satellite without the knowledge of the satellite's owner.
3. Football To fake a hand-off, conceal the ball on the hip, and roll out in order to pass or especially to rush around the end. Used of a quarterback.
n.
1. A product, especially alcoholic liquor, that is illicitly produced, distributed, or sold.
2. The part of a boot above the instep.
3. Football A play in which the quarterback bootlegs.
adj.
Produced, sold, or transported illegally: bootleg gin; bootleg tapes.
[From a smuggler's practice of carrying liquor in the legs of boots.]
bootleg′ger n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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