English Reference
Idiom idiom

white rider


Conquest or Pestilence, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

The ancient painting shows the white rider on a pale horse.

CONTEXTUAL

Many scholars interpret the white rider as a symbol of conquest appearing before the end of the world.

COMPLEX

In the final book of the Bible, the white rider emerges from the opened seal, carrying a bow and wearing a crown of victory.


A reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in which the rider of a white horse is identified as Conquest or Pestilence.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    black rider

    Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

  2. 02

    pale rider

    Death, the Grim Reaper or angel of death; and one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

  3. 03

    pearly whites

    Teeth.

  4. 04

    red rider

    War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

  5. 05

    runners and riders

    The candidates in a competition or leadership contest.

  6. 06

    wash a blackamoor white

    To labour in vain, especially so as to present something as better than it really is; to whitewash.

  7. 07

    white bread

    Bread made from white flour.

  8. 08

    white coat hypertension

    Elevated blood pressure measured by a medical practitioner and deemed to result from the patient's emotional response to the medical environment.

Last updated August 10, 2026