pirate

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: pi=rate

CIDE DICTIONARY

pirate, n. [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.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  An armed ship or vessel which sails without a legal commission, for the purpose of plundering other vessels on the high seas.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who infringes the law of copyright, or publishes the work of an author without permission.  [1913 Webster]

Pirate perch (Zoöl.), a fresh-water percoid fish of the United States (Aphredoderus Sayanus). It is of a dark olive color, speckled with blackish spots.

pirate, v. i. [Cf. F. pirater.].

 To play the pirate; to practice robbery on the high seas.  [1913 Webster]

pirate, v. t. 

 To publish, as books or writings, without the permission of the author.  [1913 Webster]
"They advertised they would pirate his edition."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pirate, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a person who commits piracy. b a ship used by pirates.
2 a person who infringes another's copyright or other business rights; a plagiarist.
3 (often attrib.) a person, organization, etc., that broadcasts without official authorization (pirate radio station).
--v.tr.
1 appropriate or reproduce (the work or ideas etc. of another) without permission, for one's own benefit.
2 plunder.

Derivative

piratic adj. piratical adj. piratically adv.

Etymology

ME f. L pirata f. Gk peirates f. peirao attempt, assault

THESAURUS

pirate

AB, Ancient Mariner, Argonaut, Blackbeard, Captain Hook, Captain Kidd, Dylan, Flying Dutchman, Henry Morgan, Jean Lafitte, Neptune, OD, Poseidon, Varuna, able seaman, able-bodied seaman, adopt, air pirate, airplane hijacker, appropriate, assume, bluejacket, borrow, buccaneer, copy, copyright infringer, corsair, crib, cribber, deep-sea man, derive from, fair-weather sailor, filibuster, fisherman, freeboot, freebooter, hearty, imitate, infringe, infringe a copyright, infringer, jack, jack afloat, jack-tar, jacky, lift, limey, literary pirate, lobsterman, make use of, mariner, matelot, mock, navigator, picaroon, pinch, plagiarist, plagiarize, plagiarizer, poach, privateer, raider, reproduce, rover, sailor, salt, sea, sea dog, sea king, sea rover, seafarer, seafaring man, seaman, shipman, simulate, skyjacker, steal, take, take on, take over, tar, viking, water dog, whaler, windjammer, windsailor

ROGET THESAURUS

pirate

Imitation

N imitation, copying, transcription, repetition, duplication, reduplication, quotation, reproduction, mimeograph, xerox, facsimile, reprint, offprint, mockery, mimicry, simulation, impersonation, personation, representation, semblance, copy, assimilation, paraphrase, parody, take-off, lampoon, caricature, plagiarism, forgery, counterfeit, celluloid, imitator, echo, cuckoo, parrot, ape, monkey, mocking bird, mime, copyist, copycat, plagiarist, pirate, imitated, mock, mimic, modelled after, molded on, paraphrastic, literal, imitative, secondhand, imitable, aping, apish, mimicking, literally, to the letter, verbatim, literatim, sic, totidem verbis, word for word, mot a mot, exactly, precisely, like master like man, like - but oh! how different!, genius borrows nobly, pursuing echoes calling 'mong the rocks, quotation confesses inferiority, Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Nonobservance

VB fail, neglect, omit, elude, evade, give the go-by to, set aside, ignore, shut one's eyes to, close one's eyes to, infringe, transgress, violate, pirate, break, trample under foot, do violence to, drive a coach and six through, discard, protest, repudiate, fling to the winds, set at naught, nullify, declare null and void, cancel, retract, go back from, be off, forfeit, go from one's word, palter, stretch a point, strain a point.

Stealing

VB steal, thieve, rob, mug, purloin, pilfer, filch, prig, bag, nim, crib, cabbage, palm, abstract, appropriate, plagiarize, convey away, carry off, abduct, kidnap, crimp, make off with, walk off with, run off with, run away with, spirit away, seize, plunder, pillage, rifle, sack, loot, ransack, spoil, spoliate, despoil, strip, sweep, gut, forage, levy blackmail, pirate, pickeer, maraud, lift cattle, poach, smuggle, run, badger, bail up, hold up, stick up, bunco, bunko, filibuster, swindle, peculate, embezzle, sponge, mulct, rook, bilk, pluck, pigeon, fleece, defraud, obtain under false pretenses, live by one's wits, rob Peter to pay Paul, borrow of Peter to pay Paul, set a thief to catch a thief, disregard the distinction between meum and tuum, fence, launder, launder money.

Thief

N thief, robber, homo triumliterarum, pilferer, rifler, filcher, plagiarist, spoiler, depredator, pillager, marauder, harpy, shark, land shark, falcon, mosstrooper, bushranger, Bedouin, brigand, freebooter, bandit, thug, dacoit, pirate, corsair, viking, Paul Jones, buccaneer, buccanier, piqueerer, pickeerer, rover, ranger, privateer, filibuster, rapparee, wrecker, picaroon, smuggler, poacher, abductor, badger, bunko man, cattle thief, chor, contrabandist, crook, hawk, holdup man, hold-up, jackleg, kidnaper, rustler, cattle rustler, sandbagger, sea king, skin, sneak thief, spieler, strong-arm man, highwayman, Dick Turpin, Claude Duval, Macheath, footpad, sturdy beggar, cut purse, pick purse, pickpocket, light-fingered gentry, sharper, card sharper, skittle sharper, thimblerigger, rook, Greek, blackleg, leg, welsher, defaulter, Autolycus, Jeremy Diddler, Robert Macaire, artful dodger, trickster, swell mob, chevalier d'industrie, shoplifter, swindler, peculator, forger, coiner, fence, receiver of stolen goods, duffer, smasher, burglar, housebreaker, cracksman, magsman, Bill Sikes, Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild, gang, gang of thieves, theft ring, organized crime, mafia, the Sicilian Mafia, the mob, la cosa nostra, Dillinger, Al Capone, Robin Hood.