Word.ws English Dictionary

white knight

white knight noun: an individual or corporation that intends to acquire another company in order to avert a hostile takeover.

Noun

white knight (plural white knights)

  1. An individual or corporation that intends to acquire another company in order to avert a hostile takeover.
    • Forget about one possible white knight for Potash. Vale, the big Brazilian mining company, denied on Monday afternoon that it was in talks to acquire the giant Canadian fertilizer company.2010 August 23, “Vale Denies It Is Potash's White Knight”, in NY Times DealBook
  2. A hero, savior, or righteous individual.
    Antonyms:
    black knight
  3. (derogatory, figuratively) Someone who unnecessarily defends someone else.
    • After hearing her version of events, Lt. Wright assumed the role of white knight. He demanded that she file a formal complaint. She demurred, so the next day, over her objection, he alerted the academy.2013 July 26, James Taranto, “A Strange Sort of Justice at West Point”, in The Wall Street Journal
    1. (Internet, derogatory, figuratively, informal) A man who defends a woman in debate etc. in an attempt to gain her favour.
  4. A mushroom of species Tricholoma album.
  5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see white, knight.
    • The white knight is attacking the pawn on e4.

Verb

white knight (third-person singular simple present white knights, present participle white knighting, simple past and past participle white knighted)

  1. (derogatory, figuratively) To unnecessarily defend someone, especially in an attempt to gain favour.

white knight meaning in Tamil and Urdu

white knight in Tamil

வெண்ணிற வீரன்

white knight in Urdu

نجات دہندہ

Synonyms of white knight

Antonyms

Forms of white knight

Noun
pluralwhite knights
alternative formwhite-knight
alternative formwhiteknight
Verb
third-person singular presentwhite knights
present participlewhite knighting
past participlewhite knighted
pastwhite knighted

Words formed from white knight

Questions about white knight

What does white knight mean?
White knight means an individual or corporation that intends to acquire another company in order to avert a hostile takeover.
What is white knight in Tamil?
White knight in Tamil is வெண்ணிற வீரன். See White knight meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is white knight?
White knight can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of white knight?
The plural of white knight is white knights.

Words near white knight in the dictionary

  1. white iron pyrites
  2. white irons
  3. White Island
  4. White Isle
  5. White Karen
  6. white knight
  7. white knight syndrome
  8. white knighted
  9. white knighting
  10. white knights
  11. white knuckle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: white knight (page history and authors); white knight (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); white knight (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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