Whiteboys

[ hwahyt-boiz, wahyt- ]

/ ˈʰwaɪtˌbɔɪz, ˈwaɪt- /

Save This Word!

noun (used with a singular verb)

a secret agrarian peasant organization, active in Ireland during the early 1760s, whose members wore white shirts for recognition on their night raids to destroy crops, barns, and other property in redressing grievances against landlords and protesting the paying of tithes.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of Whiteboys

white + boy + -s³

Words nearby Whiteboys

white blood cell, white blood cells, whiteboard, white book, Whiteboy, Whiteboys, white bread, white bryony, white buck, whitecap, white cedar

How to use Whiteboys in a sentence

The movement was agrarian, not religious, though the Whiteboys were catholics, nor political.
The Political History of England - Vol. X.|William Hunt
The principal secret societies were the Oakboys and the Steelboys of the north, and the Whiteboys of the south.
Is Ulster Right?|Anonymous
I wish we had more of the stamp among us now—'tis little of the Whiteboys or Ribbonmen would trouble the country then.
Bits of Blarney|R. Shelton Mackenzie
Some twenty or thirty Whiteboys had gathered around the dying sergeant, watching his agonies with fiendish joy.
Bits of Blarney|R. Shelton Mackenzie

From Armagh we marched to Naas, the country to the south having become much disturbed by the Whiteboys, as they termed themselves.
Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade|William Surtees