piracy
Americannoun
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practice of a pirate; robbery or illegal violence at sea.
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the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc..
The record industry is beset with piracy.
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Also called stream capture. Geology. diversion of the upper part of one stream by the headward growth of another.
noun
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robbery on the seas within admiralty jurisdiction
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a felony, such as robbery or hijacking, committed aboard a ship or aircraft
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the unauthorized use or appropriation of patented or copyrighted material, ideas, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of piracy
1545–55; earlier pyracie < Medieval Latin pīrātīa < Late Greek peirāteía. See pirate, -acy
Explanation
Piracy is a what pirates do: they steal stuff. If you plagiarize by stealing someone's words or ideas that’s piracy. Argh! The original sense of piracy comes from pirates — thieves who hijack other boats, taking what they please. That should help you remember that piracy means to steal someone else's work, usually their words or ideas. A writer who doesn't cite their sources is committing piracy. Piracy is plagiarism, and it is legally and morally wrong.
Vocabulary lists containing piracy
Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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Born a Crime
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 11
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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.
Piracy was rampant off the coast of Somalia in the 2000s, peaking in 2011 with hundreds of attacks, but was significantly reduced by international naval deployments and new tactics by commercial shipping.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
“We will have a trial on the pirated copies...and the resulting damages,” he advised Anthropic ominously: Piracy on that scale could expose the company to judgments worth untold millions of dollars.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2025
Takedown Piracy has removed over 10 million infringements from Google and nearly 100 million more from individual sites and profiles.
From Slate • Nov. 15, 2024
Somali piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion — with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
From Seattle Times • May 10, 2024
Piracy, in the old sense of the term, is almost impossible in these days.
From A Desperate Voyage by Knight, Edward Frederick
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.
