as in buccaneer
someone who engages in robbery of ships at sea
Sir Francis Drake was a British pirate who preyed on Spanish ships with the connivance of Elizabeth I
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in to seize
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
using pirated software that was subject to copyright
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pirate
Lee Marshall, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2025
Exhibits also cover pirates and the natural history of the area.
missilesandmoremuseum.org, 720 Channel Blvd., Topsail Beach, NC 28445; 910-328-8663
Play A Game Of Mini-Golf
No family beach trip is complete without a round of mini-golf.
—Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 12 Apr. 2025
Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
The situation marks the first time in the festival’s four years of screening films online that pirated copies and clips have ended up online.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pirate
Noun
Pretty much the entire town goes full Jack Sparrow, dressing up in pirate costumes and waving wooden swords to commemorate and exorcise the trauma of a time when attacks by the formidable Hayreddin Barbarossa, a.k.a.
—Lee Marshall, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2025
Exhibits also cover pirates and the natural history of the area.
missilesandmoremuseum.org, 720 Channel Blvd., Topsail Beach, NC 28445; 910-328-8663
Play A Game Of Mini-Golf
No family beach trip is complete without a round of mini-golf.
—Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 12 Apr. 2025
Verb
But countries do not all pirate the same content.
—Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
The situation marks the first time in the festival’s four years of screening films online that pirated copies and clips have ended up online.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pirate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pirate
Noun
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But their populations plummeted in the 18th and 19th centuries, as buccaneers and whalers nabbed tortoises for meat and oil.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
4 Apr. 2025
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Which is not to say that Skeleton Crew, in success, couldn’t ever feature the interstellar buccaneer.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
15 Jan. 2025
Verb
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These results suggest that media-savvy Democrats who seize this moment to call out Trump and the MAGA agenda could put themselves in a strong position to become the next leader of the Democratic Party.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
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No law in this country permits the president to seize federal funds and to just keep them until an institution complies with his personal will.—
Destinee Adams,
NPR,
16 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The Pantera even saw competition by privateer teams in Group 3, 4, and 5 racing, with largely unsuccessful results.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
17 Jan. 2025
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Riding a Yamaha as a privateer, Laninovich made two main events last season to become the oldest starter in Supercross history at the age of 40.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The return would be enough to steal Abbott from the Reds.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Apr. 2025
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The Pacers will return home for Games 5 and 7 (if necessary), which means the Bucks would need to steal two road wins to advance.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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After Columbus’s first footfall in the New World, Cuba fell prey to every manner of European freebooter.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
Foreign Affairs,
14 Dec. 2021
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There is widespread, cross-partisan public support for finally clamping down on these corporate freebooters.—
Prem Thakker,
The New Republic,
23 Feb. 2023
Verb
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The pair collaborated on searching freight shipments, storage units and vehicles to confiscate drugs, targeting marijuana in particular because it was stored locally rather than sent to the DEA, according to officials.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Miami Herald,
21 Apr. 2025
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Some of them have taken advantage of the departure of foreign and multinational corporations from Russia by buying depreciated assets or simply confiscating them, generally with the support of powerful insiders, such as the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.—
ALEXANDER GABUEV,
Foreign Affairs,
17 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In 1544, Barbarossa, a corsair who had risen to become admiral of the Ottoman navy, raided the island and carried away into slavery almost a thousand inhabitants—practically the island’s entire population.—
Lee Marshall,
Travel + Leisure,
15 Apr. 2025
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Freed from a Mediterranean Sea crowded with Ottoman fleets and North African corsairs, the Atlantic upstarts unleashed themselves on the world’s oceans.—
Jeremy Adelman,
Foreign Affairs,
20 Apr. 2015
Verb
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Antetokounmpo finished the game by scoring 36 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and blocking two shots.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Apr. 2025
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Police said that once Davis left the apartment, the surviving 10-year-old quickly grabbed her baby brother, locked the door and called for help.—
Chris Spargo,
People.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pirate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pirate. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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