Old lady more harsh about a pirate (8)

I believe the answer is:

marauder

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'pirate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'old lady more harsh about a' is the wordplay.
'old lady' becomes 'ma' (both can informally mean mother).
'more harsh' becomes 'ruder' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'ruder' enclosing 'a' is 'rauder'.
'ma'+'rauder'='MARAUDER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for marauder that I've seen before include "person in search of prey and plunder" , "Roving robber" , "Raider" , "One wandering in search of prey or loot" , "'One runs wild, plundering and pillaging (8)'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.

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