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

A lot of major pirate leaders who had been veterans of the War of the Spanish Succession as privateers had been killed in battle by the 1720s: people like Charles Vane, Edward Teach, Benjamin Hornigold, Henry Jennings, and Sam Bellamy. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 30 Dec. 2023

At Spa, the first privateer 963 appeared, in the hands of the Jota team, with backing from Tom Brady. —Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 1 May 2023

All other examples of 250 GTO were sold to and raced by privateers and teams not run by Ferrari itself. —Alistair Charlton, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023

Including a prototype, only 51 examples of the 964 RSR were built, each supplied direct from the factory as a turnkey race car for privateer racers. —Robert Ross, Robb Report, 6 Nov. 2023

The ambitious privateer also managed to persuade Rolls to provide a degree of factory support. —Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 2 Aug. 2023

The next tier down from the Hypercar class in the FIA World Endurance Championship series, the LMP2 category is highly standardized as far as configuration and performance specs, and is intended for privateers. —Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 2 June 2023

Featuring mostly privateers—riders who pay their way to race—these guys and girls have nothing to lose, meaning the races often feature pretty nasty takeouts and a healthy amount of contact. —Matt Crisara, Popular Mechanics, 21 June 2023

John, who had won his own freedom in a local lottery in 1773, died in 1779 while serving as a privateer during the Revolutionary War; he was believed to have been trying to earn money to buy his wife and surviving children’s freedom. —Victoria Marin, Washington Post, 16 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1641, in the meaning defined above

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