Definition of "pirate" in Anglais

noun

1. (crime) A criminal who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns.

   • You should be cautious due to the Somali pirates.

2. An armed ship or vessel that sails for the purpose of plundering other vessels.

3. (by extension) One who breaks intellectual property laws by reproducing protected works without permission.

   • And Gnutella, Freenet and other pirate tools will offer plunderings beyond Fanning's fantasies.

4. (ornithology) A bird which practises kleptoparasitism.

5. A kind of marble in children's games.

verb

1. (transitive) To appropriate by piracy; to plunder at sea.

   • They pirated the tanker and sailed to a port where they could sell the ship and cargo.

2. (transitive, copyright law) To create and/or sell an unauthorized copy of.

3. (transitive, copyright law) To knowingly obtain an unauthorized copy of.

   • Not willing to pay full price for the computer game, Heidi pirated a copy.

4. (intransitive) To engage in piracy.

   • He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.

5. (transitive, intransitive, Philippines) To entice an employee to switch from a competing company to one's own.

adjective

1. Illegally imitated or reproduced, said of a trademarked product or copyrighted work, or of the counterfeit itself.