man on horseback
Americannoun
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a military leader who presents himself as the savior of the country during a period of crisis and either assumes or threatens to assume dictatorial powers.
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any dictator.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He invokes what is thought to be the very first moving image, captured by the 19th-century inventor and adventurer Eadweard Muybridge, of a man on horseback.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2022
Advocates have also come across images of yellow and black coasters showing a man on horseback with his reins in the air, chasing a family of three.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2022
In the main square, a bronze statue titled “Homage to the Pioneer” depicts a man on horseback, holding a cowboy hat over his heart.
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2018
“That’s why Nietzsche said if you want to be a man on horseback, forget history, because it’ll stifle you—you’ll get full of doubts.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2018
Down in the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are oceans of ghost grass, taller than a man on horseback with stalks as pale as milkglass.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
