privateer

[ prahy-vuh-teer ]

/ ˌpraɪ vəˈtɪər /

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noun

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

privateersman.

verb (used without object)

to cruise as a privateer.

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Origin of privateer

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use privateer in a sentence

Every where this squadron subsisted by privateering, sometimes on English, sometimes on Spanish vessels.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part E.|David Hume
However, the small privateering vessels were constantly coming into Nova Scotia ports, and even Annapolis wasn't perfectly safe.
Amy in Acadia|Helen Leah Reed
Seldom has the business of privateering been so extensively carried on as in the War of 1812.
The Naval History of the United States|Willis J. Abbot.
Privateering must ever be a weapon wielded by the weaker (p. 638) nation against the stronger.
The Naval History of the United States|Willis J. Abbot.

What with privateering and illicit trade, it was clear that the war was a source of profit to some of the chief persons in Boston.
A Half Century of Conflict - Volume I|Francis Parkman

British Dictionary definitions for privateer

privateer

/ (ˌpraɪvəˈtɪə) /

noun

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

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

verb

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

(intr) to serve as a privateer

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

privateer

Origin of privateer

Words related to privateer

How to use privateer in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for privateer