nightrider

American  

[nahyt-rahy-der] / ˈnaɪtˌraɪ dər /

noun

1. one of a band of mounted men, especially in the southern U.S. during Reconstruction, who committed nocturnal acts of violence and intimidation against Black people and Black sympathizers.

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nightrider British  

/ ˈnaɪtˌraɪdə /

noun

1. a member of a band of mounted and usually masked White people in the southern US who carried out acts of revenge and intimidation at night after the Civil War

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Other Word Forms

• nightriding noun

Etymology

Origin of nightrider

First recorded in 1875–80; night + rider

Example Sentences

For Sale: A square anvil upon which Colonial nightrider and jack-of-all-craft Paul Revere fashioned the silver mugs and dishes for which in Boston he was famed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The pirate and the nightrider are nothing to the fox, for romance and danger.

From Reynard the Fox by Masefield, John

Miss Lucy, she is awful favourable to all this nightrider business.

From Danny's Own Story by Marquis, Don