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
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Recent Examples of pirating
ArsTechnica, 22 May 2026
But, the pirating is essentially stopped.
—Isabella Murray, ABC News, 29 Jan. 2026
ArsTechnica, 11 May 2026
Sony lawyer argued Cox failed to act Paul Clement, the lawyer representing the music industry, countered that Cox is manufacturing a worst-case scenario after failing to take reasonable steps to respond to repeat offenders of peer-to-peer file sharing – the most common means of pirating music.
—Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
As evidence, the music labels enlisted a third-party company to flag users found to be pirating content via peer-to-peer file-sharing protocols such as BitTorrent.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 25 Mar. 2026
Anthropic has already been in the hot seat for getting caught pirating millions of digital copies of books.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
Partida later discovered another neighbor's video showing a man wearing the same hat stealing another package — raising concerns about a possible porch-pirating spree.
—Amelia Mugavero, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
The discovery ruling bolsters what’s increasingly looking like a winning argument over the practice of pirating books from shadow libraries.
—Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 26 Nov. 2025
When pirating hindered the shipping of gold to Lisbon, Paraty pivoted to farming sugarcane (the basis of cachaça) and later became one of the earliest hubs for coffee growing in a country that is still the globe’s largest exporter of beans.
—David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
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
Noun
No drugs were found, but Simpson’s home address had also come up during the investigation as one potentially linked to the purchase of satellite TV pirating equipment.
—ArsTechnica, 22 May 2026
But, the pirating is essentially stopped.
—Isabella Murray, ABC News, 29 Jan. 2026
Verb
Cox won’t help defendants beat allegations of direct copyright infringement, those claims in which the company itself is accused of pirating.
—ArsTechnica, 11 May 2026
Sony lawyer argued Cox failed to act Paul Clement, the lawyer representing the music industry, countered that Cox is manufacturing a worst-case scenario after failing to take reasonable steps to respond to repeat offenders of peer-to-peer file sharing – the most common means of pirating music.
—Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
As evidence, the music labels enlisted a third-party company to flag users found to be pirating content via peer-to-peer file-sharing protocols such as BitTorrent.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 25 Mar. 2026
Anthropic has already been in the hot seat for getting caught pirating millions of digital copies of books.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
Partida later discovered another neighbor's video showing a man wearing the same hat stealing another package — raising concerns about a possible porch-pirating spree.
—Amelia Mugavero, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
The discovery ruling bolsters what’s increasingly looking like a winning argument over the practice of pirating books from shadow libraries.
—Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 26 Nov. 2025
When pirating hindered the shipping of gold to Lisbon, Paraty pivoted to farming sugarcane (the basis of cachaça) and later became one of the earliest hubs for coffee growing in a country that is still the globe’s largest exporter of beans.
—David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pirating
Noun
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The park is also one of several spots in both the Inner and Outer Banks where Blackbeard was known to roam during his heyday of piracy.—
Caroline Eubanks,
Travel + Leisure,
4 June 2026
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Working with global partners and law enforcement authorities, ACE places a leading role in identifying and disrupting live sports piracy networks.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Syrian authorities regularly boast of seizing weapons headed for Lebanon.—
Mick Krever,
CNN Money,
6 June 2026
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Still, seizing ships doesn’t seem like a very effective way to fill the Treasury’s coffers, and embracing freebooting carries risks besides financial ones.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
4 June 2026
Verb
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Masked suspects were caught on surveillance cameras leaping over display cases at The Card Lab in Brentwood on Saturday night and stealing $15,000 worth of Pokémon cards in under 40 seconds, police said.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 June 2026
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Last Friday, three men who were convicted of stealing priceless golden artifacts from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands were sentenced to serve 47 months apiece in prison.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
9 June 2026
Verb
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As Israeli authorities begin confiscating their land, personal tensions collide with political pressure.—
Annika Pham,
Variety,
8 June 2026
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In New York state social studies classes, communism and socialism are presented as two economic systems that make things more equal and fair, with no historical references to the atrocities committed by socialist and communist regimes confiscating property.—
Betsy McCaughey,
Boston Herald,
8 June 2026
Verb
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The vice president’s new book, which will be released on June 16, explores Vance’s religious journey to converting to Catholicism.—
Sydney Topf,
The Washington Examiner,
11 June 2026
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The city and a group of developers have also joined together to kick off the LaSalle Street Corridor Revitalization, converting obsolete Loop offices near the Thompson Center into residences and hotel rooms.—
Brian J. Rogal,
Chicago Tribune,
11 June 2026
Verb
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The best know how to play through grabbing or shoving of various degrees.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
29 May 2026
-
Wembanyama finished Game 6 with 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.—
Devon Henderson,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Verb
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Inspired by a true story, this thriller centers around a fast food manager, Sandra (Ann Dowd), who receives a call from a man identifying himself as a police officer claiming to be investigating a potential theft by Becky (Dreama Walker), one of the restaurant’s employees.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 June 2026
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This thought is part of what made Suzuki’s and Caufield’s joint NHL awards announcement Monday so special — with Suzuki winning the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward in a landslide and Caufield claiming the Lady Byng Trophy for most gentlemanly player.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pirating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pirating. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
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