porch pirate

American  

[pawrch pahy-ruht] / ˈpɔrtʃ ˌpaɪ rət /

noun

Slang.

1. a thief who takes packages left outside doors by couriers.

   In some communities, police are baiting packages with tracking devices to capture and deter porch pirates.

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Usage

What does porch pirate mean? A porch pirate is a thief who steals packages delivered to front doorsteps or porches. They especially strike during the holiday season, when people order many gifts online for home delivery.

Other Word Forms

• porch piracy
  noun

Etymology

Origin of porch pirate

First recorded in 2010–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

porch pirate

In our quest to catch the neighborhood porch pirate, we’ve inadvertently built a dragnet that catches much more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026

Sparky and Lopez’s second dog, a golden retriever named Blazer, both went missing Dec. 3 shortly after the porch pirate was captured on a Ring camera leaving the yard with the gate wide open.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2025

Image: Eufy Eufy showed off a new dual-camera video doorbell, an intriguing solution for your porch pirate problems.

From The Verge ● Jan. 6, 2022

Even if you want to ding-dong ditch me with my mail, at least I’ll walk upstairs and grab my package before a porch pirate does!

From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2021

She sees the benefit — a camera might deter a porch pirate.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 19, 2019