From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpiracypi‧ra‧cy /ˈpaɪərəsi $ ˈpaɪrə-/ noun [uncountable] 1 BBCOPYthe crime of illegally copying and selling books, tapes, videos, computer programs etc → pirate software piracy2 SCCthe crime of attacking and stealing from ships at sea3 the crime of making illegal television or radio broadcasts
Examples from the Corpus
piracy• We had a momentary chill when they climbed aboard ... piracy?• Those opposed say existing law already outlaws electronic piracy, and that law-abiding users would suffer.• He was on the commission for piracy in 1577, and for musters in 1583.• Instead she takes part in his piracy and gains meaning for life, before she helps him escape.• With the expansion of the Internet, piracy has grown more widespread.• So the two sides talked about smuggling, piracy and other sorts of crime.• They also cited the piracy issue.From Longman Business Dictionarypiracypi‧ra‧cy /ˈpaɪərəsiˈpaɪrə-/ noun [uncountable]LAW1the illegal copying of books, tapes, videos etcsoftware piracy2the crime of stealing from a ship at seapiracy in the Malacca Straits 