privateer

[prahy-vuh-teer]

noun

1. an armed ship that is privately owned and manned, commissioned by a government to fight or harass enemy ships.

2. privateersman.

verb (used without object)

1. to cruise as a privateer.

privateer

/ ˌpraɪvəˈtɪə /

noun

1. an armed, privately owned vessel commissioned for war service by a government

2. Also called: privateersman. a commander or member of the crew of a privateer

verb

1. a competitor, esp in motor racing, who is privately financed rather than sponsored by a manufacturer

2. (intr) to serve as a privateer

Word History and Origins

Origin of privateer¹

1640–50; private + -eer, modeled on volunteer

Example Sentences

There, Horace Hunley and his partners intended to operate the submarine as a privateer, helping the Confederacy break the blockade the North had placed on Southern ports.

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After surviving some of the war’s most consequential battles, Greenwood goes home and then he becomes a privateer, Ward says.

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Ecclestone, a former second-hand car dealer, recognised a kindred spirit and was a kind of guardian angel at times as Jordan navigated the choppy waters of being a privateer team owner.

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Sir Francis Drake was an English privateer, sailing and seizing stuff on behalf of the queen.

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She either became a privateer herself, taking to the Mediterranean Sea to attack Spanish holdings such as Gibraltar, or she licensed privateers to attack Spain in her name.

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