Word.ws English Dictionary

booklegging

Syllables: book·leg·gingUK/ˈbʊk.lɛɡ.ɪŋ/

booklegging noun: the illicit publication and distribution of banned books.

Noun

booklegging (uncountable)

  1. The illicit publication and distribution of banned books.
    • I should like to suggest another term–booklegging.1926, Hearings Held before the Committee on Patents, House of Representatives, Sixty-ninth Congress, First Session, on H.R. 10434, a Bill to Amend and Consolidate the Acts Respecting Copyright, and...
    • But the problem is more difficult in the case of booklegging, because you can only drink liquor once, but a book can be read by a hundred college boys, and will be, if it gets enough police-advertising.1927, The American Parade, volume 2, page 42

Origin of booklegging

Blend of book + bootlegging, by analogy with bootlegging.

Questions about booklegging

What does booklegging mean?
Booklegging means the illicit publication and distribution of banned books.
What part of speech is booklegging?
Booklegging is a noun.
How do you pronounce booklegging?
Booklegging is pronounced /ˈbʊk.lɛɡ.ɪŋ/ (UK).

Words near booklegging in the dictionary

  1. booklands
  2. booklear
  3. booklearning
  4. booklegger
  5. bookleggers
  6. booklegging
  7. bookless
  8. booklessness
  9. booklet
  10. booklets
  11. booklice

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: booklegging (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-booklegging.ogg.

Cite this entry: “booklegging.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/booklegging. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.