Obs. [f. ALE 4 + KNIGHT, used derisively; cf. carpet-knight, knight of the ellwand, etc.] A votary of the ale-house, a tippler.
1575. Eccl. Proc. Chester. [The Vicar of Whalley, Lanc., is charged with being] a common dronker and ale knight.
1598. E. Gilpin, Skial. (1878), 55. There brauls an Ale-knight for his fat-grown score.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 325. S. Urban for Ale-Knights or Pot-Companions.
1864. Chambers, Bk. Days, II. 597. This man was a regularly dubbed ale-knight, loved barley wine to the full.
