buccaneer

[buhk-uh-neer]

noun

1. any of the piratical adventurers who raided Spanish colonies and ships along the American coast in the second half of the 17th century.

2. any pirate.

buccaneer

/ ˌbʌkəˈnɪə /

noun

1. a pirate, esp one who preyed on the Spanish colonies and shipping in America and the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries

verb

1. to be or act like a buccaneer

Other Word Forms

• buccaneerish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of buccaneer¹

1655–65; < French boucanier, literally, barbecuer, equivalent to boucan barbecue (< Tupi, variant of mukém ) + -ier -eer

Word History and Origins

Origin of buccaneer¹

C17: from French boucanier , from boucaner to smoke meat, from Old French boucan frame for smoking meat, of Tupian origin; originally applied to French and English hunters of wild oxen in the Caribbean

Example Sentences

Highwaymen rogues, buccaneers, cut-throats, they were like young princes to me, still only a lowly dishwasher.

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It was a buccaneering innings full of trademark shots square of the wicket as he cut, dabbed, pulled and effortlessly flicked his way to three figures.

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Fred Goodwin did that in buccaneering and bullying style, trampling over the older canny values of conventional Scottish finance with the goal of creating a global giant.

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England's bold, brash and buccaneering style is winning them plenty of friends and admirers.

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Their buccaneering batting is made all the more thrilling by the risk of it going spectacularly wrong, like watching a tightrope walker tiptoe between skyscrapers.

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