as in piracy
the act or pursuit of robbing ships at sea
officially sanctioned pirating used to be common among warring nations
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in seizing
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
using pirated software that was subject to copyright
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pirating
Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2025
Today, Anthropic likely breathes a sigh of relief to avoid the costs of extended litigation and potentially paying more for pirating books.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
Downtown Street Teams was founded in Palo Alto in 2005 by Eileen Richardson, a venture capitalist and former chief executive of Napster, a digital platform once known for pirating music that’s since become a streaming service.
—Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2025
Today, Anthropic likely breathes a sigh of relief to avoid the costs of extended litigation and potentially paying more for pirating books.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pirating
Noun
-
The Live Tier includes real-time intelligence and technology to address piracy immediately, via relationships with law enforcement entities.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Any such seizures, Putin warned, would be considered piracy and could destabilize the global oil market.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Under Georgian law, buying, transporting or selling nuclear or radioactive material is punishable by up to five years in prison and seizing a nuclear material can lead to a sentence of up to 10 years.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
As French police, government officials and top executives at the Louvre Museum continue to scratch their heads over how thieves managed to brazenly steal priceless jewelry in broad daylight, a German company is seizing the moment and grabbing its 15 minutes of fame.—
Lianne Kolirin,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Their double life soon gets complicated when a rival boy band harboring a sinister secret begins stealing their fans.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
-
And the scam compounds in Cambodia continue to operate, stealing money from victims including US citizens.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The sweeping opinion ran through a list of Israeli practices that the ICJ said violated international law, including confiscating land, building Israeli settlements in the territories, and depriving Palestinians of natural resources and the right to self-determination.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Lower courts initially sided with Jouppi, finding that confiscating an entire airplane over the cases of beer was excessive.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In another development, researchers in Canada have discovered a previously unknown bacterium capable of converting food waste into renewable natural gas, which opens new opportunities for carbon-neutral fuel production.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Miami-Dade College took control in 2005, fully restoring the building and converting it into its current form as a home for the college’s cultural programs.—
Douglas Markowitz,
Miami Herald,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
These are especially useful for taking public transport, grabbing a quick coffee, or leaving a small tip at a restaurant.—
Asia London Palomba,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Peterson led the way, scoring 26 points — 24 before halftime — and grabbing four rebounds.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Here's why Americans are claiming Social Security early At a recent internal meeting, a Social Security administrator noted that new benefit claims were up more than 15% in March, compared with the same month in 2024.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
-
In his interview with CNN, Noboa acknowledged the worsening homicide statistics, but pushed back by claiming that a greater percentage of the killings involved criminal-on-criminal violence.—
Max Saltman,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pirating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pirating. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share