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trafficking

trafficking

183 5.6
Illegal buying and selling of people, animals and goods often across borders
  • noun
  • /ˈtræfɪkɪŋ/
  • NSFW
translation icon : tráfico
  • Protection against the crimes associated with drug trafficking is the largest direct cost found in this study.
  • human trafficking
  • drug trafficking
  • sexual trafficking

But the majority of child trafficking is right under our noses.

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Examples

  • Both were convicted for trafficking young girls in an illegal operation.

  • There is the child sex trafficking conspiracy.

  • It's more money made than human trafficking now, than drugs.

  • Many of these services are provided for in the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Still others are forced into the drug trafficking world against their will.

    Academic text (2008)
  • As noted above, sexual trafficking in the United States is part of a wider global problem.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Both were convicted for sex trafficking of young girls.

  • Accordingly, it is difficult to understand sexual trafficking in the United States apart from the wider global context.

    Academic text (2008)
  • But the majority of child trafficking is right under our noses.

  • She's founder and president of the Human Trafficking Pro Bono Legal Center.

Synonyms

smuggling
vstrafficking
  • NSFW
81 4.5

To bring banned goods into or out of a country without paying taxes

is about unlawful buying selling or exchanging not limited to import or export
drug trafficking
vstrafficking
  • NSFW
36 4.6

Illegal buying, selling, or moving of drugs such as heroin

covers illegal exchange of many items including people and information
drug traffic
vstrafficking
  • NSFW
2 4.2

Illegal buying and selling of drugs for profit

is broader and covers illegal trade in people and other items
illegal smuggling
vstrafficking
  • NSFW
1 3.8

Taking goods or people across a border in secret and against the law

focuses on buying selling or exchanging rather than transport only
narcotraffic
vstrafficking
  • NSFW
8.2

Illegal sale and smuggling of drugs

is more general, covering illicit exchange of goods people or information

Compounds

36 4.6

Illegal buying, selling, or moving of drugs such as heroin

How Illegal

trafficking
  • NSFW
183 5.6
black market
  • NSFW
85 3.9

Surface Forms

trafficking singular
traffickings plural

Morphology

trafficking = traffic (transparent) = traffic + ing

Formed from the verb 'traffic' with the productive nominalizing -ing to indicate the act or process, so the meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

Trafficking comes from the older word traffic, which meant 'trade' or 'dealings' and is the same root as the everyday traffic of cars and people. So trafficking means the trade or movement of goods, people, or information, often in an illegal way.