letter of marque
license or commission granted by a state to a private citizen to capture and confiscate the merchant ships of another nation.
Origin of letter of marque
1- Also called letter of marque and reprisal, letters of marque and reprisal.
- Also letters of marque .
Words Nearby letter of marque
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use letter of marque in a sentence
I believed my land-service commission would protect me, but I asked for the letter-of-marque as an additional safeguard.
The Supplies for the Confederate Army | Caleb HuseThe scheme was not impossible for any one holding a privateer's commission, and I applied to Mr. Yancey for a letter-of-marque.
The Supplies for the Confederate Army | Caleb HuseIn that day, even a French ship-of-the-line was no model of discipline or order, and a letter-of-marque was consequently worse.
Afloat And Ashore | James Fenimore CooperThe prize proved to be the ship I have mentioned, a letter-of-marque, from Guadaloupe, bound to Nantes.
Afloat And Ashore | James Fenimore CooperWell, as if that wern't enough, we ship together again in this vessel, and a time we had of it with the French letter-of-marque.
Afloat And Ashore | James Fenimore Cooper
British Dictionary definitions for letter of marque
a licence granted by a state to a private citizen to arm a ship and seize merchant vessels of another nation
a similar licence issued by a nation allowing a private citizen to seize goods or citizens of another nation
- Also called: letter of marque and reprisal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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