freebooter
Americannoun
noun
-
a person, such as a pirate, living from plunder
-
informal a person, esp an itinerant, who seeks pleasure, wealth, etc, without responsibility
Etymology
Origin of freebooter
1560–70; Anglicization of Dutch vrijbuiter, equivalent to vrij free + buit booty 1 + -er -er 1
Explanation
A freebooter is a looter or raider. Freebooters are pirates. Originally, freebooters were pirates: roaming scoundrels who sailed the seas in search of spoils or plunder. In other words, freebooters robbed other ships. The term is now also used for people who steal in other settings. Freebooters, in any case, are robbers. The booty may be free for them, but they came by it through theft.
Vocabulary lists containing freebooter
"The Devil and Tom Walker" by Washington Irving
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Oedipus at Colonus
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Killers of the Flower Moon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Tablet printed a reply from Alan M. Allan, managing director of London's famed silk house, Jacqmar: The bettors choice was Freebooter, a coffee-colored gelding and half-brother of an Irish plow horse.
From Time Magazine Archive
One ancestor, William Rhett, served as Vice Admiral of the colony, cleared the Carolina coast of pirates and hanged Gentleman Freebooter Stede Bonnet at Charleston in 1719.
From Time Magazine Archive
With Freebooter Norris taking command and uttering blood-thirsty cries, the opposition Senator-soldiers marched toward the farm lowlands.
From Time Magazine Archive
When Cloncarrig crashed into the next-to-last barrier, Freebooter pounded on to win by 15 lengths.
From Time Magazine Archive
In a few minutes after, that grave was occupied by all that remained of Macpherson the Freebooter.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 4 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
