Knight

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Knight \Knight\, n. [OE. knight, cniht, knight, soldier, AS.
     cniht, cneoht, a boy, youth, attendant, military follower;
     akin to D. & G. knecht servant; perh. akin to E. kin.]
     1. A young servant or follower; a military attendant. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2.
        (a) In feudal times, a man-at-arms serving on horseback
            and admitted to a certain military rank with special
            ceremonies, including an oath to protect the
            distressed, maintain the right, and live a stainless
            life.
        (b) One on whom knighthood, a dignity next below that of
            baronet, is conferred by the sovereign, entitling him
            to be addressed as Sir; as, Sir John. [Eng.] Hence:
        (c) A champion; a partisan; a lover. "Give this ring to my
            true knight." Shak "In all your quarrels will I be
            your knight." --Tennyson.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  Knights, by their oaths, should right poor
                  ladies' harms.                    --Shak.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Formerly, when a knight's name was not known, it was
           customary to address him as Sir Knight. The rank of a
           knight is not hereditary.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A piece used in the game of chess, usually bearing a
        horse's head.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave
        or jack. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Carpet knight}. See under {Carpet}.
  
     {Knight of industry}. See {Chevalier d'industrie}, under
        {Chevalier}.
  
     {Knight of Malta}, {Knight of Rhodes}, {Knight of St. John of
     Jerusalem}. See {Hospitaler}.
  
     {Knight of the post}, one who gained his living by giving
        false evidence on trials, or false bail; hence, a sharper
        in general. --Nares. "A knight of the post, . . . quoth
        he, for so I am termed; a fellow that will swear you
        anything for twelve pence." --Nash.
  
     {Knight of the shire}, in England, one of the representatives
        of a county in Parliament, in distinction from the
        representatives of cities and boroughs.
  
     {Knights commanders}, {Knights grand cross}, different
        classes of the Order of the Bath. See under {Bath}, and
        {Companion}.
  
     {Knights of labor}, a secret organization whose professed
        purpose is to secure and maintain the rights of workingmen
        as respects their relations to their employers. [U. S.]
  
     {Knights of Pythias}, a secret order, founded in Washington,
        D. C., in 1864, for social and charitable purposes.
  
     {Knights of the Round Table}, knights belonging to an order
        which, according to the legendary accounts, was instituted
        by the mythical King Arthur. They derived their common
        title from the table around which they sat on certain
        solemn days. --Brande & C.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Knight \Knight\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Knighted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Knighting}.]
     To dub or create (one) a knight; -- done in England by the
     sovereign only, who taps the kneeling candidate with a sword,
     saying: Rise, Sir ---.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           A soldier, by the honor-giving hand
           Of C[oe]ur-de-Lion knighted in the field. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  knight
       n 1: originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and
            chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the
            sovereign for personal merit
       2: a chessman in the shape of a horse's head; can move two
          squares horizontally and one vertically (or vice versa)
          [syn: {horse}]
       v : raise (someone) to knighthood; "The Beatles were knighted"
           [syn: {dub}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  121 Moby Thesaurus words for "knight":
     Bayard, Don Quixote, Gawain, Lancelot, Ritter, Sidney, Sir Galahad,
     advance, aggrandize, bachelor, banneret, baronet, battler,
     belligerent, belted knight, bickerer, bishop, blade, bravo,
     brawler, broncobuster, buckaroo, bully, bullyboy, caballero,
     castle, cavalier, cavalryman, chessman, chevalier, circus rider,
     combatant, companion, competitor, contender, contestant, cowboy,
     cowgirl, cowpuncher, disputant, duelist, elevate, enforcer,
     ennoble, equestrian, equestrienne, exalt, fencer, feuder, fighter,
     fighting cock, foilsman, gallant, gamecock, gaucho, gladiator,
     goon, gorilla, graduate, hatchet man, hood, hoodlum, hooligan,
     horse soldier, horseback rider, horsebacker, horseman, horsewoman,
     jockey, jouster, kick upstairs, king, knight bachelor,
     knight banneret, knight baronet, knight-errant, man, militant,
     mounted policeman, pass, pawn, piece, plug-ugly, postboy,
     postilion, prefer, promote, puncher, quarreler, queen, raise,
     rider, rioter, rival, rook, rough, roughrider, rowdy, ruffian,
     sabreur, scrapper, scuffler, squabbler, steeplechaser, strong arm,
     strong-arm man, strong-armer, struggler, swashbuckler, sword,
     swordplayer, swordsman, thug, tilter, tough, trick rider, tussler,
     up, upgrade, vaquero, wrangler
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  KNIGHT, n.
  
      Once a warrior gentle of birth,
      Then a person of civic worth,
      Now a fellow to move our mirth.
      Warrior, person, and fellow -- no more:
      We must knight our dogs to get any lower.
      Brave Knights Kennelers then shall be,
      Noble Knights of the Golden Flea,
      Knights of the Order of St. Steboy,
      Knights of St. Gorge and Sir Knights Jawy.
      God speed the day when this knighting fad
      Shall go to the dogs and the dogs go mad.