pirate
a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea.
a ship used by such persons.
any plunderer, predator, etc.: confidence men, slumlords, and other pirates.
a person who uses or reproduces the work or invention of another without authorization.
Also called pirate stream .Geology. a stream that diverts into its own flow the headwaters of another stream, river, etc.
to use or reproduce (a book, an invention, etc.) without authorization or legal right: to pirate hit records.
to take or entice away for one's own use: Our competitor is trying to pirate our best salesman.
Origin of pirate
1Other words for pirate
Other words from pirate
- pi·rate·like, adjective
- pi·rat·i·cal [pahy-rat-i-kuhl, pi-], /paɪˈræt ɪ kəl, pɪ-/, pi·rat·ic, adjective
- pi·rat·i·cal·ly, adverb
- un·pi·rat·ed, adjective
- un·pi·rat·i·cal, adjective
- un·pi·rat·i·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use pirate in a sentence
Certain printers, however, made a practice of pirating some of the most popular English privileged books.
Prices of Books | Henry B. WheatleyThe good Major Bonnet has gone off pirating; he thinks he can make more money that way than by attending to his plantation.
Kate Bonnet | Frank R. StocktonWith this small company he dared not go pirating on his own account and so had decided to rejoin Blackbeard.
Blackbeard: Buccaneer | Ralph D. PaineWas America in the business of pirating around the shores of Europe to pick up islands, or promontories like Gibraltar?
Children of the Market Place | Edgar Lee MastersHe wished to go pirating again, and saw a way of doing this which he thought would be far superior to any of the common methods.
Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts | Frank Richard Stockton
British Dictionary definitions for pirate
/ (ˈpaɪrɪt) /
a person who commits piracy
a vessel used by pirates
(as modifier): a pirate ship
a person who illicitly uses or appropriates someone else's literary, artistic, or other work
a person or group of people who broadcast illegally
(as modifier): a pirate radio station
(tr) to use, appropriate, or reproduce (artistic work, ideas, etc) illicitly
Origin of pirate
1Derived forms of pirate
- piratical (paɪˈrætɪkəl) or piratic, adjective
- piratically, adverb
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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