privateer

noun

pri·​va·​teer ˌprī-və-ˈtir How to pronounce privateer (audio)
: an armed private ship licensed to attack enemy shipping
also : a sailor on such a ship
privateer intransitive verb

Examples of privateer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But near the end of Washington’s presidency, French privateers began seizing neutral American ships carrying goods across the Atlantic Ocean. Lindsay M. Chervinsky / Made By History, TIME, 19 Sep. 2024 Of these, Audi Motorsport reserved 20 for its program, sold 20 to privateer teams, and the remainder were offered on the market at about $80,000 each. Robert Ross, Robb Report, 2 Sep. 2024 Hundreds of years later, they were found, proving that the ship and the cargo were indeed legitimate prey for privateers, at least according to the law at the time. The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024 The Africans sold into bondage in Virginia in 1619 (the event that prompted the New York Times’ 1619 Project, four centuries later) had been seized from a Portuguese slave ship by an English privateer carrying a Dutch letter of marque. Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for privateer 

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1641, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of privateer was circa 1641

Dictionary Entries Near privateer

Cite this Entry

“Privateer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privateer. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

privateer

1 of 2 noun
pri·​va·​teer
ˌprī-və-ˈti(ə)r
1
: an armed private ship permitted by its government to make war on ships of an enemy country
2
: a sailor on a privateer

privateer

2 of 2 verb
: to cruise in or as a privateer
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