Pirate Meaning
/ˈpaɪɹət/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.
nounAn armed ship or vessel that sails for the purpose of plundering other vessels.
Sentence Examples
Christopher Columbus enjoyed the torrents of Pirate Bay and would often go surfing there.
The Pirate Party could mature into a political driving force.
There were reports that a pirate ship had come looking for treasure in the cove.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The legendary ____ buried a treasure chest on the island.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ ship flew a black flag as it approached the merchant vessel on the open sea.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English pirate, pirat, pyrat, from Old French pirate, from Latin pīrāta (“pirate”), from Ancient Greek πειρατής (peiratḗs), from πεῖρα (peîra, “trial, attempt, plot”). Displaced native Old English wīċing, which was the word for both "pirate" and "viking".
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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?"
— 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
"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—"
— 1952, C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:
"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."
— 2004, David Lubar, Dunk, page 20:
"If we untangle the claim that technology has turned Johnny Teenager into a pirate, what turns out to be fueling it is the idea that if Johnny Teenager were to share his unauthorized copy with two million of his closest friends the effect on a record company would be pretty similar to the effect of some CD factory's creating two million CDs and selling them cheap."
— 2008, Martha Vicinus, Caroline Eisner, Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age, page 21:
"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."
— 1999, Abdelkader Benali, Susan Massotty, Wedding by the Sea, page 60:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The legendary ____ buried a treasure chest on the island.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ ship flew a black flag as it approached the merchant vessel on the open sea.