pirated; pirating
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
: to commit or practice piracy
Synonyms
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
Melissa Locker, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2024
Situated about 250 miles east of Puerto Rico, it was considered an ideal location to establish a military outpost to protect ships en route to Europe from pirates and privateers.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pirate 
Noun
The waters off Ilha Grande are also home to dozens of shipwrecks — remnants of the battles between pirates and the Portuguese.
—Melissa Locker, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2024
Situated about 250 miles east of Puerto Rico, it was considered an ideal location to establish a military outpost to protect ships en route to Europe from pirates and privateers.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pirate
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.
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Cite this Entry
“Pirate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
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 
: a person who commits piracy
pirate
2 of 2 verb
pirated; pirating
: 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
: to commit piracy compare bootleg
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