outrider means A guide or escort, especially one who rides in advance. It carries an Arena rating of 1642, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, outrider ranks #2,419 of 13,223 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,823 of 13,223 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #4,203 of 13,223 for Most Malleable Words, #4,849 of 13,223 for Most Incisive Words.
Why “outrider” is a great word
A person, especially one on horseback, who rides ahead or alongside as a guide, escort, or scout. From Middle English *outridere* (mid-14th century), from the combination of the prefix *out-* and *rider* (one who rides). Unlike a forerunner, which is primarily temporal, or a vanguard, which is collective and abstract, an outrider is a solitary, physical presence in the landscape. He is the lone silhouette cresting a distant ridge, the first hoofbeat heard on the dawn road, the vigilant shadow moving through the tree-line—the individual whose duty is to meet the approaching world before it reaches the rest of us, a human concession to the vast and unmapped threat ahead.
Etymology
From Middle English outridere.
noun
- A guide or escort, especially one who rides in advance.“Then they went from farmhouse to farmhouse, two little girls walking at the head of the procession as bridesmaids, and six or eight outriders galloping ahead on hobby-horses to announce their coming.”
- One who rides out on horseback to inspect a ranch etc.
- A forerunner.“The Winchester MP is something of an outrider for a new project now: moving his party into the space vacated by the Conservative shift to the right under Iain Duncan Smith.”
Words closest in meaning
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