privateer

[ prahy-vuh-teer ]

/ ˌpraɪ vəˈtɪər /

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.

Nearby words

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

For these reasons the first rush to privateering, although feverishly energetic, was of a somewhat extemporized character.
Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812|Alfred Thayer Mahan
On this condition I would give in my adhesion to the abolition of privateering.
Charles Sumner; His Complete Works, Volume VIII (of 20)|Charles Sumner
For the practice of privateering he cherished a feeling of intense abhorrence.
Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume I (of 2)|Wiliam Cabell Bruce
The periods when American privateering was important were those of the Revolution and the War of 1812.
American Merchant Ships and Sailors|Willis J. Abbot

See the Proposition about privateering, p. 67 of this volume.
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. IV (of 12)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for privateering

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

Word Origin and History for privateering

privateer

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