pirate
noun
\
Definition of pirate
(Entry 1 of 2)
: one who commits or practices piracy
pirate
verbDefinition of pirate (Entry 2 of 2)
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
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Other Words from pirate
Noun
pī-
\
adjective
pī-
\
adverb
Synonyms for pirate
Synonyms: Noun
buccaneer, corsair, freebooter, rover
Synonyms: Verb
appropriate, arrogate, commandeer, convert, expropriate, preempt, press, seize, take over, usurp
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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
They are taken over by pirates when they are being shipped from Jamaica to England to get an education. — Amy Sutherland, BostonGlobe.com, "Fond of writers from a generation back," 12 July 2018 One spud takes the place of the thimble and button that Barrie’s Peter and Wendy exchange as kisses; elsewhere potatoes get roasted by the pirates on Hook’s ship before the crew members meet their end by disappearing into one of the deck’s holds. — Robert Greskovic, WSJ, "‘Peter Pan’ Review: A Modern Neverland," 11 July 2018 At the tender age of 14, he was captured by Irish pirates while living with his parents in Britain. Herding sheep in captivity encouraged his devotions and prayer. — Brenda Yenke, cleveland.com, "Splendors of green at Chagrin Falls Antique Show: Yenke Peddler antiques," 15 Mar. 2018 While robotic buccaneers will no longer be offering mechanical brides to the highest anomatronic bidders, the attraction maintains other stereotypical pirate behaviors. — Scott Craven, USA TODAY, "Disneyland's 'Pirates' ride to reopen with new female pirate, without bride auction," 7 June 2018 Renting the pirate boats will run between $25 and $35 per half-hour, depending on how many people are onboard. — Chris Kaltenbach, baltimoresun.com, "Pirate ships launch at the Inner Harbor," 23 May 2018 But as the pirate legend says, dead men tell no tales, so no one really knew where the ship had gone down . . . or what happened to the other two crew members. — Chuck Yarborough, cleveland.com, "Lost for 189 years, has the Lake Serpent been found in Lake Erie? Dives this summer to confirm," 23 Apr. 2018 The buzzed, middle-aged man wearing a belt full of beer cans cheered when the pirate ship sprayed water from two hoses on the side. — Taylor Seely, azcentral, "Country Thunder AZ as a first-timer: 'Oh wow, so that just happened.'," 5 Apr. 2018 Across all categories, the U.S. led the way in pirate site visits with 27.9 billion, followed (in order) by Russia (20.6 billion), India (17 billion), Brazil (12.7 billion) and Turkey (11.9 billion). — Dan Rys, Billboard, "Music Piracy Grew 14.7 Percent in 2017, But Positive Signs Exist: Study," 21 Mar. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
This year, Sony, which owns World Cup broadcast rights in India, has already issued a warning to potential streaming sites that may try and pirate 2018 matches. — Kurt Wagner, Recode, "World Cup’s soccer highlights will put social media’s copyright tools to the test," 15 June 2018 FlightSimLab owner Lefteris Kalamaras actually confirmed that this was the case in a forum post, but asserted that this functionality was only turned against users running software that the company has deemed to be pirated. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "Flight Simulator Software Packed in Password-Stealing Malware to Battle Piracy," 20 Feb. 2018 SurfSafe will also help users to identify whether an image was pirated from another site and flag visuals that have been photoshopped. — Rachel Gutman, The Atlantic, "A Web Tool That Lets People Choose Their Own ‘Sources of Truth’," 29 June 2018 The lawsuit against Dragon Media says the box and the software provided by Dragon Media greatly simplify the process of viewing pirated video. — Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, "“Free TV” box lawyer says video industry is “digging its own grave”," 17 Jan. 2018 The photos are childhood snapshots of Ms. Perry and her twin brother, Sandy, who was one of the N.C.A.A. basketball players whose likenesses were pirated, just a few years ago, by the video game company E.A. Sports. — Martha Schwendener, Jason Farago And Will Heinrich, New York Times, "What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week," 24 Jan. 2018 Set in the year 2144, Autonomous follows Jack, a rogue scientist who pirates life-saving drugs for people who can’t afford them. — Tiffany Kelly, Popular Mechanics, "The 13 Best Science Fiction Books of 2017," 29 Dec. 2017 About 70% of the software in use in China, for example, is pirated. — James Bacchus, WSJ, "How to Take On China Without Starting a Trade War," 16 Aug. 2017 Truex could have crashed Busch — practically everyone else crashed somebody — and pirated the win, but Truex played nice and finished second. — Mike Hembree, USA TODAY, "Analysis: Martinsville ends in chaos, hard feelings as Kyle Busch prevails," 29 Oct. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pirate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for pirate
pirate
noun
English Language Learners Definition of pirate
(Entry 1 of 2)
: someone who attacks and steals from a ship at sea
: someone who illegally copies a product or invention without permission
: a person or organization that illegally makes television or radio broadcasts
pirate
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of pirate (Entry 2 of 2)
: to illegally copy (something) without permission
See the full definition for pirate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
pirate
noun
\
Kids Definition of pirate
: a robber of ships at sea : a person who commits piracy
pirate
noun
\
Legal Definition of pirate
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a person who commits piracy
pirate
verbLegal Definition of pirate (Entry 2 of 2)
: 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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