privateersman
Americannoun
PLURAL
privateersmenEtymology
Origin of privateersman
An Americanism dating back to 1770–80; privateer + 's 1 + -man
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the 19th of July the act Was amended, and two per cent. placed in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury, and privateersmen put on the pension list with the navy.
From Project Gutenberg
"These borrowings from the Spaniards," he says, "have this advantage attending them, that there is no obligation to repay them," and there was war between the two crowns, so that he was a legal privateersman.
From Project Gutenberg
When they heard the latter, some said they wished they had known it before they left the West Indies, as they might have turned privateersmen, and have enriched themselves.
From Project Gutenberg
A schooner could do better than a square-rigged vessel under such circumstances, but that wind was an aggravating trial to a ship-load of excited privateersmen.
From Project Gutenberg
The privateersmen were landed lower down the river, and at about seven in the evening Sir John was brought on board the Ruby.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
