pirate

1 of 2

noun

pi·​rate ˈpī-rət How to pronounce pirate (audio)
: one who commits or practices piracy
piratical adjective
piratically adverb

pirate

2 of 2

verb

pirated; pirating

transitive verb

1
: to commit piracy on
2
: to take or appropriate by piracy: such as
a
: to reproduce without authorization especially in infringement of copyright
b
: to lure away from another employer by offers of betterment

intransitive verb

: to commit or practice piracy

Examples of pirate in a Sentence

Noun the famous pirate Jean Lafitte A software pirate made bootleg copies of the computer program. Verb He was accused of pirating their invention. using pirated software that was subject to copyright
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
There’s the pirate who’s said to have buried treasure on Liberty Island. Julia Halperin, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024 The book — the first in a trilogy being published by Harper Voyager — is a swashbuckling high seas adventure following a notorious Muslim pirate captain who has survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands and an actual demon before retiring to a life of piety. Alex Ritman, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024 While the ’90s catwalk styling leaned way more theatrical—with a pirate eye patch and head scarf—Robbie forwent this in favor of sleek accessories, including barely-there sparkling jewels. Christian Allaire, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2024 When Shawn's adventuresome uncle Jack (Steven Weber) returned to town to ask for his help in finding a pirate's gold, the guys were pulled into a high-stakes scavenger hunt: They were interrogated, tied up in a cabin, and nearly killed, and Gus lost a Puma. EW.com, 26 Feb. 2024 The motel, once called the Bridge Motor Inn, remains in business with larger-than-life sculptures of a mermaid and a pirate outside the office entrance. Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2024 Once airborne, riders can look down on views of the park and Miniland, as well as participate in activities inside the pods like learning how to speak like a pirate or taking part in a sky-high sing-along. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 17 Feb. 2024 Those with the best pirate impression got the opportunity to play Skull and Bones with Lynch in his store. Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024 Fewer know the beer-spewing moment a TV camera lingers upon a friend, or relative, on inglorious display, with feathers, horns, dogface, or fur; clad as pirate, or leprechaun, feisty in top-hat and tails. Tim Kelleher, National Review, 10 Feb. 2024
Verb
Bezos sells, Buffett buys, Amazon gets sued, Disney gets pirated: Business news roundup Plus, a Taco Bell competitor is catching up, SpaceX loses orbit, and more of our most popular stories of the week Start Slideshow Jeff Bezos keeps selling Amazon stock. Quartz Staff, Quartz, 17 Feb. 2024 On TikTok’s, the platform will have to step up its moderation efforts to prevent its users from pirating UMG songs now that one of the world’s largest music companies will be breathing down its neck. Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 5 Feb. 2024 Plaintiffs do not have any other reasonable way to prove that Defendant's subscriber pirated Expendables because the data provider that provided the evidence did not track this film. Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 7 July 2023 Back in 2016, albums like Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Frank Ocean’s Blonde would be released as exclusives on Tidal or Apple Music and then get pirated by folks who didn’t use those services. Angela Watercutter, WIRED, 1 Feb. 2024 All over the world, there were people downloading it, pirating, downloading it. Emily Longeretta, Variety, 8 Jan. 2024 Most people think of pirates and pirating as a chaotic endeavor with every swashbuckler in it for themselves. WIRED, 26 Oct. 2023 Of course most of filmmakers would not want their film to be pirated for economic aspects. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 15 Sep. 2023 By the time the takedowns are issued, the game or match being pirated is already over, making the DMCA takedown requests mostly useless. Joe Hindy, PCMAG, 30 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pirate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin pirata, from Greek peiratēs, from peiran to attempt — more at fear

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1577, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pirate was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pirate

Cite this Entry

“Pirate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pirate

1 of 2 noun
pi·​rate ˈpī-rət How to pronounce pirate (audio)
: a person who commits piracy
piratical adjective
piratically adverb

pirate

2 of 2 verb
pirated; pirating
: to take by piracy
pirate an invention

Legal Definition

pirate

1 of 2 noun
pi·​rate ˈpī-rət How to pronounce pirate (audio)
: a person who commits piracy

pirate

2 of 2 verb
pirated; pirating

transitive verb

: to take or appropriate by piracy
especially : to copy, distribute, or use without authorization especially in infringement of copyright
the pirated software
pirating cable signals

intransitive verb

: to commit piracy compare bootleg

More from Merriam-Webster on pirate

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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