white knight

noun

1

: one that comes to the rescue of another

especially : a corporation invited to buy out a second corporation in order to prevent an undesired takeover by a third

2

: one that champions a cause

Synonyms

• advocate
• advocator
• apostle
• backer
• booster
• champion
• espouser
• exponent
• expounder
• friend
• gospeler
• gospeller
• herald
• hierophant
• high priest
• paladin
• promoter
• proponent
• protagonist
• supporter
• true believer
• tub-thumper

Examples of white knight in a Sentence

a deserving cause in need of a charismatic white knight who will galvanize public support

Recent Examples on the Web

Should the approach from Foxconn turn hostile after a rebuff, Honda also offered to protect Nissan as a white knight investor, Nikkei said. —Eleanor Pringle, Fortune Asia, 19 Dec. 2024

Roksanda found a white knight in The Brand Group, which purchased the fashion label founded in 2005. —Joelle Diderich, WWD, 16 Dec. 2024

And this is an enormous deficit, a deficit that is in the range of the COVID deficits, without the benefit of any white knights. —Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 6 Oct. 2024

Here, his white knight’s armor is sullied before his face is scarred, and how that fits this version of Gotham City makes for a fitting rallying cry all its own. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 1 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Legal Definition

white knight

noun

: a party (as a corporation) invited to take over a corporation and thereby prevent its acquisition by another compare raider