pirate

pirate — 名詞

1. an armed robber who travels by ship across the sea, attacking other ships or coa

1.名詞B1
釋義

海盜

在海上搶劫船隻或沿岸城鎮的武裝歹徒

an armed robber who travels by ship across the sea, attacking other ships or coastal towns to steal money, cargo, or people.

例句

In 1718, a pirate named Blackbeard captured a French slave ship near the Caribbean.

1718 年，一個叫 Blackbeard 的海盜在加勒比海附近俘虜了一艘法國奴隸船。

historical reference: a pirate named [Name]

Somali pirates seized the cargo ship and held the crew for ransom for three months.

索馬利亞海盜劫持那艘貨輪，把船員扣押了三個月勒索贖金。

collocation: pirates + seize/hold for ransom

同義詞
  • buccaneer

    historical Caribbean pirate, often romanticised

  • corsair

    older or literary; especially a Mediterranean pirate

  • raider

    broader: any attacker who steals; not necessarily at sea

文法句型

a pirate + verb

a band/crew of pirates

用法筆記

Often appears with adjectives that locate the pirate in time or place (Caribbean pirates, Somali pirates, modern pirates) and with verbs of violent taking (attack, board, seize, raid, plunder).

常見錯誤

❌A pirate stole my bag on the bus.
✅A thief stole my bag on the bus.
💡a pirate operates at sea, not on land transport.

2. someone who makes copies of films, music, software, or books without paying the

2.名詞B2
釋義

盜版者

未經授權複製並販售影音或軟體的人

someone who makes copies of films, music, software, or books without paying the owner of the rights, and then shares or sells those copies.

例句

Software pirates in the 1990s sold cheap copies of Microsoft Office on burned CDs.

1990 年代的軟體盜版者用燒錄光碟賣便宜的 Microsoft Office。

compound: software/music/video pirate

Movie studios lose billions every year to pirates who upload films online before release.

電影公司每年因為提前把片子上傳到網路的盜版者損失數十億。

collocation: pirates + upload/share/distribute

同義詞
  • bootlegger

    informal; especially someone who sells unofficial copies of music or films

  • counterfeiter

    broader: makes fake versions of any product, not only media

文法句型

software/music/video pirate

用法筆記

Frequently used as a modifier (software pirate, music pirate) or with the medium as the object of the implied copying. Distinguish from sense 1: the sea-robber sense never appears in compounds about media.

常見錯誤

❌My friend is a pirate because he downloaded one song for free.
✅My friend downloaded one song illegally.
💡'pirate' usually describes someone who copies and distributes on a larger scale, not a one-time downloader.

3. a station broadcasting radio or TV programmes without any government licence, of

3.名詞C1
釋義

非法電台

未取得執照偷偷播送節目的廣播或電視台

a station broadcasting radio or TV programmes without any government licence, often from a hidden flat, a tall building, or a ship anchored offshore.

例句

In the 1960s, a pirate broadcast pop music to British teenagers from a ship in the North Sea.

1960 年代，一家非法電台從北海上的船隻向英國青少年播放流行音樂。

historical: 1960s UK pirate radio on ships

The police shut down a pirate that had been playing reggae from a flat in east London.

警方關掉了一家從倫敦東區公寓播放雷鬼音樂的非法電台。

collocation: shut down / raid + a pirate (station)

同義詞
反義詞

文法句型

pirate radio/TV station

用法筆記

Most often appears as a modifier in 'pirate radio' or 'pirate station'; the bare noun for a station is less common and usually clear from context (broadcasting, radio, frequency).

常見錯誤

❌I listened to a pirate yesterday.
✅I listened to a pirate station yesterday.
💡without 'radio' or 'station', listeners will read 'pirate' as the sea-robber sense.

pirate — 動詞