pirate
noun
a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea.
had been pirating
-
past perfect progressiveof pirate.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
Ceferin’s organization, UEFA, had a few hours earlier released a statement saying beoutQ was based in Saudi Arabia and had been pirating its content.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2018
Having rid himself of the mutineers, Captain Phips shipped other scoundrels in their stead, there being small choice at Jamaica where every other man had been pirating or was planning to go again.
From The Book of Buried Treasure Being a True History of the Gold, Jewels, and Plate of Pirates, Galleons, etc., which are sought for to this day by Ralph Delahaye Paine
Hence I conclude that the 'Worcester' really had been pirating off the coast of Malabar, but that the ship taken by Captain Green in these waters was not the 'Speedy Return,' but another, unknown.
From Historical Mysteries by Andrew Lang
Here, as I stood for Patane, about the 27th December, I met with a Japanese junk, which had been pirating along the coasts of China and Cambodia.
From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 by Robert Kerr
