''cavalry'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''cavalry'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260628200135-00-⌔

cavalry - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

cavalry (countable and uncountable, plural cavalries)

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• (military, usually historical, uncountable) The military arm of service that fights while riding horses.
  • ✤ Two hundred heavily-armed cavalry rode behind the Audley standard, while close at their heels came the Duke of Lancaster with a glittering train, heralds tabarded with the royal arms riding three deep upon cream-colored chargers in front of him.¹
• (military, countable) An individual unit of this arm of service.
• (military, countable) The branch of the military transported by fast light vehicles, also known as mechanized cavalry.
• (figurative) A source of rescue, especially in an emergency.
  • ✤ *call in the cavalry *
  • ✤ *“We landed in their killbox?” “We did. I am sor… No, belay that. *Heads down! Cavalry incoming!”**²

Etymology

From Middle French cavalerie, in turn from Italian cavalleria. Recorded in English from the 1540s. Doublet of chivalry.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæ.vəl.ɹi/
• Audio (US): 🔊
• (nonstandard) IPA: /ˈkæl.və.ɹi/

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, chapter XXXIII, in The White Company, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Company […], →OCLC: ↩

2. 2015 February 1, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary ‎${}^{[1]}$, archived from the original on 14 May 2024: ↩

Link to original

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