pirate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone who uses another person's words or ideas as if they were his own
    plagiarist; literary pirate; plagiariser; plagiarizer.
  2. noun someone who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without having a commission from any sovereign nation
    buccaneer; sea robber; sea rover.
  3. noun a ship that is manned by pirates
    pirate ship.
  4. verb copy illegally; of published material
  5. verb take arbitrarily or by force
    hijack; commandeer; highjack.
    • The Cubans commandeered the plane and flew it to Miami

WordNet

Pi"rate noun
Etymology
L. pirata, Gr. , fr. to attempt, undertake, from making attempts or attacks on ships, an attempt, trial; akin to E. peril: cf. F. pirate. See Peril.
Definitions
  1. A robber on the high seas; one who by open violence takes the property of another on the high seas; especially, one who makes it his business to cruise for robbery or plunder; a freebooter on the seas; also, one who steals in a harbor.
  2. An armed ship or vessel which sails without a legal commission, for the purpose of plundering other vessels on the high seas.
  3. One who infringes the law of copyright, or publishes the work of an author without permission.
Pi"rate intransitive verb
Etymology
Cf. F. pirater.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Pirated ; present participle & verbal noun Pirating
Definitions
  1. To play the pirate; to practice robbery on the high seas.
Pi"rate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To publish, as books or writings, without the permission of the author. or other copyrighted material; see also the similar "knock off", to manufacture an object with a brand name, without permission of the brand owner, and usually of inferior quality
    They advertised they would pirate his edition. Pope.

Webster 1913