under-the-counter love

under-the-counter

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Transacted, given, or sold illicitly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Illicit, obtained or sold furtively.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective done or sold illicitly and secretly

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • My stove is a Viking and I have under-the-counter refrigerator drawers, so when I get into my little U, I don't ever have to leave.

    Ruth Reichl 2011

  • Little wonder that "The President's Daughter" became an under-the-counter best seller.

    History That Tells An Unexpected Tale Harry Stein 2011

  • Health campaigners insist they should, believing this will reduce the number of young people smoking, while those who run convenience shops oppose the move, saying it will cost up to £1,000 to remove the displays and to fit under-the-counter trays to hold tobacco products.

    Displaying tobacco in shops should be consigned to history | Observer editorial 2011

  • Specialist erotica presses such as Circlet now give respectable publication and distribution to frank erotica, which would have been strictly under-the-counter stuff fifty years ago, and many paranormal romances include explicit erotic passages that would once have given librarians fits.

    MIND MELD: Taboo Topics in SF/F Literature 2009

  • My darling wife would not countenance regular breast pumps, which I also knew absolutely nothing about, but as I understand it, are sold under-the-counter and out of normal human view in many drug stores... access being granted only after mumbling a password and confirming the secret handshake.

    Len Filppu: Parental Survival Tip # 1: Develop Mirth at Birth Len Filppu 2011

  • Little wonder that "The President's Daughter" became an under-the-counter best seller.

    History That Tells An Unexpected Tale Harry Stein 2011

  • That the Lib Dems are a party in their own right, and will not be engaging in "under-the-counter deals" with the Big Two:

    Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister? 2010

  • She thinks "under-the-counter" would be a more appropriate description — a measure of the distrust between the industry and European regulators. overheard@wsj.com

    Overheard: KKR Rematch 2010

  • She thinks "under-the-counter" would be a more appropriate description — a measure of the distrust between the industry and European regulators. overheard@wsj.com

    Overheard: KKR Rematch 2010

  • She thinks "under-the-counter" would be a more appropriate description — a measure of the distrust between the industry and European regulators. overheard@wsj.com

    Overheard: KKR Rematch 2010

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