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Definition of Privateer - 5 dictionary results
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pri⋅va⋅teer

  [prahy-vuh-teer]
Use Privateer in a Sentence
–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)
3. to cruise as a privateer.
Origin:
1640–50; private + -eer, modeled on volunteer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pri·va·teer   (prī'və-tîr')   
n.  
  1. A ship privately owned and crewed but authorized by a government during wartime to attack and capture enemy vessels.
  2. The commander or one of the crew of such a ship.
intr.v.   pri·va·teered, pri·va·teer·ing, pri·va·teers
To sail as a privateer.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Privateer

Pri`va*teer"\, n. [From Private.]

1. An armed private vessel which bears the commission of the sovereign power to cruise against the enemy. See Letters of marque, under Marque.

2. The commander of a privateer.

Kidd soon threw off the character of a privateer and became a pirate. --Macaulay.

Privateer

Pri`va*teer"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Privateered; p. pr. & vb. n. Privateering.] To cruise in a privateer.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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privateer 
1664, originally private man of war (1646), from private, probably modeled on volunteer, buccaneer.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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