privateer

[ prahy-vuh-teer ]

noun

1. an armed ship that is privately owned and manned, commissioned by a government to fight or harass enemy ships.
2. privateersman.

verb (used without object)

1. to cruise as a privateer.

privateer

/ ˌpraɪvəˈtɪə /

noun

1. an armed, privately owned vessel commissioned for war service by a government
2. Also calledprivateersman a commander or member of the crew of a privateer

verb

1. a competitor, esp in motor racing, who is privately financed rather than sponsored by a manufacturer
2. intr to serve as a privateer

Word History and Origins

Origin of privateer¹

1640–50; private + -eer, modeled on volunteer

Example Sentences

The Uncharted video game franchise, which now has seven iterations, began in 2007 with a plotline centered on a man named Nathan “Nate” Drake who claims to be a descendant of privateer Sir Francis Drake.

From Washington Post

He fought as a privateer in the Revolutionary War as a teenager and was captured by a British ship.

From Time

Not content to only heli-ski in Alaska’s short season from mid-February through April, Harms became a privateer, founding what would become Third Edge Heli with Clark Fyans in 2007.

From Outside Online

Check out Privateer Holdings, a venture-capital firm based in Seattle that is about to close on $7 million in funding.

From The Daily Beast

One of her courtiers bet that Clark Gable as Rhett Butler would be her ideal, “a privateer, a romantic, and a fabulous cad.”

From The Daily Beast

This heritage has so influenced his cuisine that Roellinger is often referred to as "the privateer chef."

From The Daily Beast

Countless dogs fought under the feet of passers-by, and over all leered the sardonic face of Jean Bart, pirate and privateer.

From Project Gutenberg

The scheme was not impossible for any one holding a privateer's commission, and I applied to Mr. Yancey for a letter-of-marque.

From Project Gutenberg

Two days afterward he came upon a British privateer, which was on the hunt for American vessels.

From Project Gutenberg

Soon after he had some lively service in the Wasp, and captured a British privateer with the little sloop Sachem.

From Project Gutenberg

But the privateer captain had seen the fate of the General Monk and concluded that he had business elsewhere.

From Project Gutenberg