corsair
Americannoun
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a fast ship used for piracy.
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a pirate, especially formerly of the Barbary Coast.
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Military. Corsair, a gull-winged, propeller-driven fighter plane built for the U.S. Navy in World War II and kept in service into the early 1950s.
noun
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a pirate
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a privateer, esp of the Barbary Coast
Etymology
Origin of corsair
First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French corsaire, from Provençal corsar(i), from Upper Italian corsaro, from Medieval Latin cursārius, equivalent to Latin curs(us) course + -ārius -ary
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.
Much of its layout dates back to its time as an Ottoman protectorate and entrepot for corsair plunder, in the centuries before a French expeditionary force landed at Sidi Ferruch in 1830.
From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2022
The Lancia Aurelia America is an Italian classic, and the European designers borrowed wraparound windshields and corsair bumper design from their U.S. counterparts.
From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2021
Surrounded by pirates more glam-rock hair than menacing corsair, Walken’s Hook moved with a knowing, and occasionally line-dropping, weariness that might have been camp if only the Captain were able to summon the energy.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2014
There is even a note of unexpected poignancy as we see the tousled, dashing corsair of the prologue succeeded for the main body of the opera by the much older, wiser Doge.
From The Guardian • Jun. 30, 2010
Beneath awnings, tourists browse over blue-and-white-striped sweaters and framed watercolors of corsair ships; a father sings as he puts his arm around a daughter.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
