pirate (pir at)

[Formerly also pir at, pyrate, pyrat; = D. piraat = G. Sw. Dan. pir at; The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia pirate tacks or attempts, There be land-rats and water-rats, water-thieves and land-thieves, I mean pirates . Shak . , M. of V., i. 3. 25. Nor swelling Seas, nor threatening Skies, Prevent the Pirate's Course. Congreve, Pindaric Odes, ii. 2. An armed ve el which sails without a legal commi ion, for the purpose of plundering other ve els indiscriminately on the high seas. -3. A publisher, compiler, or bookseller who appropriates the literary or artistic labors of an author without compensation or permi ion; specifically, one who infringes on the copyright of another. Mores refers to them [Shakspere's "Sonnets") in 1598 in a manner which implies that though unpublished they were well known among the poet's private friends, and in 1599 two of them were printed by the pirate Jaggard. Shake spear i an a, VI. 105. 4. Any pirate-perch.=Syn. 1. Thief, Brigand, etc. (see robber ), corsair, bucaneer. pirate (pi'rat), v.; pret. and pp. pirated, ppr. pirating. [ 4509 piratic (pi-rat'ik), a. [= F. piratique = Sp. piratico = Pg. It. piratico, All naval war, not only during the middle ages but down to the seventeenth century, was more or le piratical . Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 190. 2. Engaged in piracy, or robbery on the high seas: as, a piratical ship or commander.-3. Pertaining to or practising literary piracy: as, piratical publishers. The errors of the pre were... multiplied... by the avarice and negligence of piratical printers. Pope , Letters, Pref. piratically (pi-rat'i-kal-i), adv. In a piratical manner; by piracy. piratouslyt (pi'ra-tus-li), adv. [ Divers merchants. have had their goods piratously robbed and taken. State Trials , Lord Seymour, an. 1549. piraya (pi-räʼyä), n . [S. Amer.] A voracious characinoid fish, Serrasalmo piraya , of tropical America. It has a deep compre ed body with a keeled serrated belly. The mouth is moderate, but its jaws are armed with lancet-shaped teeth as sharp as those of the shark. Cattle when fording rivers are sometimes badly bitten by it. The natives of Guiana sharpen their tiny arrows for the blow-gun by drawing them between two of the teeth, which shave them to a point with their sharp edges. The fish sometimes becomes 3 or 4 feet in length. Also called caribe and pirai . See cut under Serrasalmo . pirelt, v. i. A Middle English form of peer1 . A Middle English form of pear1 . An obsolete form of pier . A Middle English form of pearl . piriform (pir'i-form), a . [ pirum , a pear, + form a , form.] Having the form of a pear; pear-shaped.