pirate

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A criminal who plunders at sea

   A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.

   • You should be cautious due to the Somali pirates.
2. 2

   An armed ship or vessel that sails for the purpose of plundering other vessels.

   • How did you do it? Have you searched for hidden treasure, or discovered a pole, or done time on a pirate, or flown the Channel, or what? Where is the glamour of romance? How did you get it?
   • The third day out a pirate (Terebinthian by her rig) overhauled us, but when she saw us well armed she stood off after some shooting of arrows on either part—
3. 3

   One who breaks intellectual property laws by reproducing protected works without…

   One who breaks intellectual property laws by reproducing protected works without permission.

   • And Gnutella, Freenet and other pirate tools will offer plunderings beyond Fanning's fantasies.
   • They had watches that said Gucci or Rolex on them even though it was obvious they'd come straight here from some pirate factory in China.
4. ›+ 9 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A bird which practises kleptoparasitism.

   2. 5

      A kind of marble in children's games.

      • Most of the time it went fine; some of his classmates had so many marbles they could have opened up their own shop in smurfs, pirates, purple aggies and pink panthers.
   3. 6

      To appropriate by piracy

      To appropriate by piracy; to plunder at sea.

      • They pirated the tanker and sailed to a port where they could sell the ship and cargo.
   4. 7

      To create and/or sell an unauthorized copy of.

      • If a book is pirated there is a remedy for the author and publisher; if a photograph or an engraving is made of a picture without permission the law protects the painter.
   5. 8

      To knowingly obtain an unauthorized copy of.

      • Not willing to pay full price for the computer game, Heidi pirated a copy.
      • In the 1970s cable companies began to pirate some of the football games that the networks had contracted to televise.
      • College students, with their limited budgets, often pirate software to save their money for buying more important items (like beer).
   6. 9

      To engage in piracy.

      • He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.
   7. 10

      To entice an employee to switch from a competing company to one's own.

   8. 11

      Illegally imitated or reproduced, said of a trademarked product or copyrighted work, or…

      Illegally imitated or reproduced, said of a trademarked product or copyrighted work, or of the counterfeit itself.

   9. 12

      someone connected with any of a number of sports teams known as the Pirates, as a fan,…

      someone connected with any of a number of sports teams known as the Pirates, as a fan, player, coach etc.

The neighborhood

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