black-bag

alternative black bag · alternative blackbag

1. not comparableInvolving sophisticated clandestine methods for gaining unauthorized entry and obtaining information.

   Watergate turned out to be a black-bag operation by former CIA employees.

   3 more examples

   Holden's SEAL training had covered clandestine penetrations, but never black-bag jobs

   2011, Jerry Ahern, Decision Time: The Defender, →ISBN

   Con Keeler was past his fortieth birthday and a veteran of more black-bag jobs than he could count.

   2012, Paul Lieberman, Gangster Squad: Covert Cops, the Mob, and the Battle for Los Angeles, →ISBN

   In an interesting coda that perhaps presaged the black-bag jobs of the Watergate era, an unknown person or persons broke into Dr. Parr's office on New York's Forty-second street in 1926, gained access to the safe, and stole President Grant's, Mrs. Grant's, and President Chester Arthur's dentures.

   2015, James Wynbrandt, The Excruciating History of Dentistry, →ISBN

present singular third person black-bags · participle present black-bagging · participle past black-bagged · past black-bagged · alternative black bag · alternative blackbag

1. To break in to a place without authorization as part of a clandestine operation.

   Nothing jimmied. Nothing damaged. She'd been black-bagged by a pro.

   2011, Adrian Phoenix, J. F. Lewis, Jeri Smith-Ready, Urban Fantasy Collection, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   He'd been tapped, bugged, and black-bagged under Nixon and Clinton, and under the present conditions all the cops needed to listen in was a thumbs-up from an Eagle Scout or better.

   2004, Loren D. Estleman, Poison Blonde: An Amos Walker Novel, →ISBN

   Before dawn, NEST black-bagged Ivan's building — not the Nuclear Emergency Search Teams, their shadows whose S stands for Strike. They pulled all hazmat out of the medical imaging office, substituted fake material, and broke the machines so nobody will wonder when they don't work.

   2011, Harlan Coben (Ed.), The Best American Mystery Stories 2011

2. To kidnap in order to make someone disappear (as opposed to kidnapping for ransom).

   It'll be tough to black-bag him. They may have to go all the way.

   2017, Scott Reardon, The Prometheus Man, →ISBN

   1 more example

   When witches and demons caused enough trouble, the Union had a tendency to black-bag the baddies and toss them into a detention center.

   2016, S.M. Reine, Once Darkness Falls