cavalry

Etymology

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

noun

  1. (military, uncountable) The military arm of service that fights while riding horses.
  2. (military, countable) An individual unit of the cavalry arm of service.
  3. (military, countable) The branch of the military transported by fast light vehicles, also known as mechanized cavalry.
  4. (figurative) Source of rescue, especially in an emergency.
    call in the cavalry

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/cavalry), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.