to launder money
23
7.4
- phrasal verb
- /ˈlɔːndər ˈmʌni/
- NSFW
:
blanquear dinero
- He was caught trying to launder money by funneling it through various legitimate businesses.
- laundering drug money
Any restaurant that only accepts cash, are they laundering money?
- Any restaurant that only accepts cash, are they laundering money?
Examples
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I know you and Boyett are laundering money.
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They launder money from arms and drug sales and crime syndicates in Russia.
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So is he laundering money?
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Using the clinic as a front to launder money?
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No, but they use Chick Planet as a front to launder money.
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Apparently, she was using her movies to launder money for the cartel.
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We've got a paper trail of laundered money
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Others run clothing boutiques, jewelry stores, bars, and furniture stores that launder drug money.
Academic text (2008) -
Vallecillo said the group laundered money through companies and property, but did not specify which drug cartel the group belonged to.
Blog text (11) -
You're laundering money.
Synonyms
44
8.4
To hide illegally gained money by moving it through legal businesses to look legal
Antonyms
How Hidden
- NSFW
23
7.4
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
A learner who knows 'launder' (literally 'to wash') and 'money' can plausibly infer the metaphorical idea of 'making money clean' — i.e., hiding its dirty/illegal origin. However, the precise criminal/legal process sense is a conventionalized metaphor and requires world knowledge and exposure to the idiomatic usage, so it is not fully transparent despite helpful cross-linguistic parallels (e.g., Spanish 'lavar dinero').
Etymology
The verb launder money comes from the image of launder meaning to wash clothes and money being 'dirty'. Criminals 'wash' 'dirty' money through banks and companies so it looks 'clean', and that's why the phrase means to make illegally gained money appear legal.