privateer

[prahy-vuh-teer]

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.

Origin of privateer

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for privateering

Historical Examples of privateering

The gallantry of privateering was degenerating into the bloody brutality of piracy.
Plotting in Pirate Seas
Francis Rolt-Wheeler
A specimen American privateering commission may be seen in doc.
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period
Various
These were the essential documents of a privateering voyage.
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period
Various
Most narratives of privateering or of piracy are found in the form of depositions.
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period
Various
Seamen—you witness—were brutes, in these merry days of privateering.
Famous Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea
Charles H. L. Johnston

British Dictionary definitions for privateering

privateer

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

Word Origin and History for privateering

privateer

1660s, "private man of war," from private (adj.), probably on model of volunteer, buccaneer.