privateer
noun
pri·va·teer
ˌprī-və-ˈtir 
: 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
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 
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
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'privateer.' 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
“Privateer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privateer. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.
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