Con"tra*band , v. t. 1. To
import illegally, as prohibited goods; to smuggle. [Obs.]
Johnson.
2. To declare prohibited; to forbid. [Obs.]
The law severly
contrabands
Our taking business of men's
hands.
Hudibras.
Con"tra*band , a.
Prohibited or excluded by law or treaty; forbidden; as, contraband goods, or trade.
The contraband will always keep pace, in
some measure, with the fair
trade.
Burke.
Con"tra*band (?), n. [It. contrabando; contra + bando ban, proclamation: cf. F.
contrebande. See Ban an edict.]
1. Illegal or prohibited traffic.
Persons the most bound in duty
to prevent contraband, and the most interested in the seizures.
Burke.
2.
Goods or merchandise the importation or exportation of which is forbidden.
3. A negro slave, during the Civil War, escaped to, or was brought within, the Union lines. Such slave was considered contraband of war. [U.S.]
Contraband of war, that which, according to international law, cannot be supplied to a hostile
belligerent except at the risk of seizure and condemnation by the aggrieved belligerent. Wharton.
Hear it pronounced