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privateer

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Privateer
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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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Privateer
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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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Word Origin & History

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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