as in buccaneer
someone who engages in robbery of ships at sea
Sir Francis Drake was a British pirate who preyed on Spanish ships with the connivance of Elizabeth I
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as in to seize
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
using pirated software that was subject to copyright
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pirate
Leia Mendoza, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025
Maybe Charles went on to become a famous nephrologist, or part of the Christian-pirate community, or both.
—Sam Lipsyte, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025
Covering 500,000 works that Anthropic pirated for AI training, if a court approves the settlement, each author will receive $3,000 per work that Anthropic stole.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pirate
Noun
After the pirates save Conomi Islands, the crew set sail on their next adventure, while a new bounty is placed on Luffy.
—Leia Mendoza, Variety, 28 Oct. 2025
Maybe Charles went on to become a famous nephrologist, or part of the Christian-pirate community, or both.
—Sam Lipsyte, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
Justin Nelson, an attorney for the authors, told Alsup that about 465,000 books are on the list of works pirated by Anthropic.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025
Covering 500,000 works that Anthropic pirated for AI training, if a court approves the settlement, each author will receive $3,000 per work that Anthropic stole.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pirate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pirate
Noun
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Swashbucklers, scoundrels, bandits and buccaneers will soon be bellying up to the bar inside a lively new pirate pub at Walt Disney World that’s already booked solid for the first two months and promises to be a must-have reservation for visitors.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
29 Aug. 2025
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The conference curated a world of coming wonders for several hundred C-suite buccaneers who had paid up to fifty thousand dollars apiece to update their mental models and investment portfolios.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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On Iowa State’s next possession, TCU senior safety Bud Clark came up with a massive interception right before the two-minute timeout, giving TCU a great opportunity to seize control of the game with the Horned Frogs getting the ball at halftime.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 Nov. 2025
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Pokrovsk would be the largest city Russia has seized since Bakhmut in May 2023.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The ghost ship of Harpswell had been the privateer Dash, which had been lost at sea after compiling its remarkable record.—
Leanna Renee Hieber,
Big Think,
2 Oct. 2025
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Set in 1627, Salé will follow an Icelandic mother and daughter captured by Barbary privateers and sold into slavery in Morocco.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Maia’s horrified to realize that the bag was stolen; Tallulah’s mostly just annoyed she got caught.—
Caroline Framke,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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Before his imprisonment, Chacón was arrested in 2024 on a domestic violence charge and, in 2025, was accused of stealing merchandise at a Walmart.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
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There is widespread, cross-partisan public support for finally clamping down on these corporate freebooters.—
Prem Thakker,
The New Republic,
23 Feb. 2023
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After Columbus’s first footfall in the New World, Cuba fell prey to every manner of European freebooter.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
Foreign Affairs,
14 Dec. 2021
Verb
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Milwaukee Marshall High School confiscates a student’s phone until the end of the day for a first offense, requires a parent pickup after a second offense and issues an automatic suspension for repeat violations.—
Kayla Huynh,
jsonline.com,
5 Nov. 2025
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He once got caught with a knife, but correctional officers didn't confiscate it.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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If peaceable trading isn't your dream, consider the corsair life, pillaging other ships for their precious cargo.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
7 Oct. 2025
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Set in 1492, the series follows Sara, the defiant daughter of Granada’s chief Rabbi, exiled during Spain’s expulsion of its Jewish population and captured by Ottoman corsairs (‘Korsan’ in Turkish).—
Ben Croll,
Variety,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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However, Cena outsmarted him by grabbing the chair, throwing it next to Dom, and pretending to be down on the mat.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Nov. 2025
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Security camera footage from a nearby apartment complex showed the naked man walking across the street prior to the incident, seemingly talking to himself and grabbing a sign, per NBC 4.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pirate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pirate. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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