privateer
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The game follows Kenway, also from Swansea, as he sails to the Caribbean as a privateer looking for wealth, and evolves into a pirate, then assassin.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Sir Francis Drake was an English privateer, sailing and seizing stuff on behalf of the queen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
His father, Jan Jansen, a Dutch privateer, was captured by one of the Moorish states in 1618.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2019
The San Juan Bautista, a Spanish ship transporting enslaved Africans, was bound for Mexico when it was attacked by the White Lion and another privateer, the Treasurer, and forced to surrender its African prisoners.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 14, 2019
He’d had a running fight with a French privateer and had lost three men.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Letters of marque regulate against abuses; privateers are paid only if they honor all the restrictions on their activities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
She either became a privateer herself, taking to the Mediterranean Sea to attack Spanish holdings such as Gibraltar, or she licensed privateers to attack Spain in her name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2024
In theory, pirates plunder and pillage outside the law, while corsairs were privateers regulated by authorities.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 11, 2024
The privateers were sponsored by the state, and set a ransom of 500 Guineas for Capt Lambton who was sailing The Stephenson from Bristol to Newcastle at the time.
From BBC ● May 17, 2023
We passed other boats and ships of small draught, but all avoided challenge for fear of tampering with privateers.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Authorization of privateering would allow the capture of Iranian vessels now being turned back or disabled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
The Protestant queen wanted colonies that would act as an ideological counterweight to Spanish Catholicism in the Americas and provide a base of operations for privateering expeditions that would raid Spanish shipping.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
But secession slashed tariff receipts by eliminating busy Southern ports and by launching a fleet of Confederate privateering vessels on the seas.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2022
Rather, the main reasons were an increase in trade, a decline in piracy and privateering and an improvement of ports.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2015
In 1619, the first Africans arrived in the Virginia colony on a privateering ship.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Vocabulary lists containing privateer
Words Every Pirate Should Know
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Chapter 6: The American Revolution
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Torpedoed
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
