How to use privateer in a sentence

10 example sentences · noun, verb

Privateer means a privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant ships and take possession of their cargo. Example: “He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.”

Examples of privateer by meaning

nounAn advocate or beneficiary of privatization of a government service or activity.

This is a major victory, not only for CUPW because it will deter profit-hungry privateers from taking work away from CUPW members, but also because it gives union protection to those employed by the privateers.1985, British Columbia. Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission, Summary of Proceedings, page 421
Privateers, such as Osborne and Gaebler, promise that good competition will not become bad — will not become cutthroat competition — if good competition is "carefully structured and managed;"2001, George Beam, Quality Public Management: What it is and how it Can be Improved and […]
Privatization advocates, or “privateers,” peddle the simple message that privatization is always good.2013, Peter Downs, Schoolhouse Shams: Myths and Misinformation in School Reform

verbTo advocate or benefit from privatization of government services.

The objective of the privatisation law of July 1990 was to achieve an ownership structure similar to that in western Europe within five years, with approximately half of state-owned assets to be privateered in the first three years.1995, Review of agricultural policies: Poland, page 75
They are generally kept in "detention centers" in the Australian desert, or on islands in international waters privateered by the government.2004, Harvard Political Review, volume 31, page 31

More sentences with privateer

He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.From the entry pirate
Privateer II had real actors in full motion video sequences doing all sorts of silly stuff.2005, William Abner, Gamer's Tome of Ultimate Wisdom 2006, page 125. From the entry full motion video
He asked for an additional paragraph banning privateers from ports under Toussaint's control.1967, Hubert Cole, Christophe, King of Haiti, Viking Press, →ISBN, page 57. From the entry Saint-Dominican
Grant Shapps must now take direct control of running them, rather than continue to line the pockets of privateers."2020 August 12, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Rail passenger services nationalised in all but name”, in Rail, page 6. From the entry nationalisation
However, during peacetime, privateers and navy men were left without employment, so they often went on the account.1999, Hans Turley, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 118. From the entry go on the account

Meaning of privateer

noun A privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant ships and take possession of their cargo.
noun An officer or any other member of the crew of such a ship; a government-sanctioned pirate.
noun An advocate or beneficiary of privatization of a government service or activity.

Full definition of privateer

Questions about privateer in a sentence

How do you use privateer in a sentence?: Privateer is used as a noun and verb. For example: “He pirated in the Atlantic for years before becoming a privateer for the Queen.”
What is a short sentence with privateer?: “He asked for an additional paragraph banning privateers from ports under Toussaint's control.”
What does privateer mean?: Privateer means a privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant ships and take possession of their cargo.

Adapted from Wiktionary: privateer (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use privateer in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/privateer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.