Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A ship privately owned and crewed but authorized by a government during wartime to attack and capture enemy vessels.
- noun The commander or one of the crew of such a ship.
- intransitive verb To sail as a privateer.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To cruise in a privateer for the purpose of seizing an enemy's ships or annoying his commerce.
- noun An armed vessel owned and officered by private persons, but acting under a commission from the state usually called letters of marque.
- noun The commander of, or a man serving on board of, a privateer.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An armed private vessel which bears the commission of the sovereign power to cruise against the enemy. See Letters of marque, under
marque . - noun The commander of a privateer.
- intransitive verb To cruise in a privateer.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical A privately owned
warship that hadofficial sanction toattack enemy ships and take possession of their cargo. - noun An
officer or any other member of thecrew of such a ship. - noun motor racing A private individual entrant into a race or competition who does not have the backing of a large, professional team.
- verb To function under official sanction permitting attacks on enemy shipping and seizing ship and cargo; to engage in government-sponsored
piracy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a privately owned warship commissioned to prey on the commercial shipping or warships of an enemy nation
- noun an officer or crew member of a privateer
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Almost at once news came of war being declared between England and France with Spain, so Bonnet hurried back to Topsail, and was granted permission to take back his sloop and sail her to St. Thomas's Island, to receive a commission as a privateer from the French Governor of that island.
The Pirates' Who's Who Giving Particulars Of The Lives and Deaths Of The Pirates And Buccaneers Philip Gosse 1919
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A Confederate privateer is reported sixty miles south-east of Sandy
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It is during this time that the term privateer and the term pirate become blurred together.
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It is during this time that the term privateer and the term pirate become blurred together.
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A privateer was a-- was a ship that was given a legal license by the -- the new state of
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory & the American Revolution 1999
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A privateer was a vessel which under commission from one country, carried on war with the ships of other countries.
The Story of Manhattan Charles Hemstreet
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The privateer was a schooner, called the Eagle, commanded by Captain Potter.
American Prisoners of the Revolution Danske Dandridge
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The captain of the privateer was a man of violent and ungovernable temper and drunken habits.
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale John Sherburne Sleeper
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A privateer was a vessel authorized to capture an enemy's property, but the privateersmen often were little better than pirates, as in this case.
Colonial Children 1902
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The privateer was the more formidable ship and faster on the wind, forcing Captain Sterling of the Savage to accept the challenge.
The Old Merchant Marine; A chronicle of American ships and sailors Ralph Delahaye Paine 1898
reesetee commented on the word privateer
See pigeon hawk.
January 14, 2009
dailyword commented on the word privateer
This word was also used in Master And Commander.
June 9, 2012