The Collaborative International Dictionary
Heavy \Heav"y\, a. [Compar. Heavier; superl. Heaviest.] [OE. hevi, AS. hefig, fr. hebban to lift, heave; akin to OHG. hebig, hevig, Icel. h["o]figr, h["o]fugr. See Heave.]
Heaved or lifted with labor; not light; weighty; ponderous; as, a heavy stone; hence, sometimes, large in extent, quantity, or effects; as, a heavy fall of rain or snow; a heavy failure; heavy business transactions, etc.; often implying strength; as, a heavy barrier; also, difficult to move; as, a heavy draught.
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Not easy to bear; burdensome; oppressive; hard to endure or accomplish; hence, grievous, afflictive; as, heavy yokes, expenses, undertakings, trials, news, etc.
The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod.
--1 Sam. v. 6.The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.
--Shak.Sent hither to impart the heavy news.
--Wordsworth.Trust him not in matter of heavy consequence.
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Laden with that which is weighty; encumbered; burdened; bowed down, either with an actual burden, or with care, grief, pain, disappointment.
The heavy [sorrowing] nobles all in council were.
--Chapman.A light wife doth make a heavy husband.
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Slow; sluggish; inactive; or lifeless, dull, inanimate, stupid; as, a heavy gait, looks, manners, style, and the like; a heavy writer or book.
Whilst the heavy plowman snores.
--Shak.Of a heavy, dull, degenerate mind.
--Dryden.Neither [is] his ear heavy, that it can not hear.
--Is. lix. 1. Strong; violent; forcible; as, a heavy sea, storm, cannonade, and the like.
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Loud; deep; -- said of sound; as, heavy thunder.
But, hark! that heavy sound breaks in once more.
--Byron. Dark with clouds, or ready to rain; gloomy; -- said of the sky.
Impeding motion; cloggy; clayey; -- said of earth; as, a heavy road, soil, and the like.
Not raised or made light; as, heavy bread.
Not agreeable to, or suitable for, the stomach; not easily digested; -- said of food.
Having much body or strength; -- said of wines, or other liquors.
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With child; pregnant. [R.] Heavy artillery. (Mil.)
Guns of great weight or large caliber, esp. siege, garrison, and seacoast guns.
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Troops which serve heavy guns.
Heavy cavalry. See under Cavalry.
Heavy fire (Mil.), a continuous or destructive cannonading, or discharge of small arms.
Heavy metal (Mil.), large guns carrying balls of a large size; also, large balls for such guns.
Heavy metals. (Chem.) See under Metal.
Heavy weight, in wrestling, boxing, etc., a term applied to the heaviest of the classes into which contestants are divided. Cf. Feather weight
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, under Feather.
Note: Heavy is used in composition to form many words which need no special explanation; as, heavy-built, heavy-browed, heavy-gaited, etc.
Cavalry \Cav"al*ry\, n. [F. cavalerie, fr. It. cavalleria. See Cavalier, and cf. chivalry.] (Mil.) That part of military force which serves on horseback.
Note: Heavy cavalry and light cavalry are so distinguished by the character of their armament, and by the size of the men and horses.
Wikipedia
Heavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces ( shock troops). Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale, plated, chainmail or lamellar armour as well as either swords, maces, lances, or battle axes.
Usage examples of "heavy cavalry".
Stuck into his snake-clasped belt was a long-barrelled German pistol, while at his left hip was a battered metal scabbard in which there hung a British heavy cavalry sword.
This one had not been looked after, it was dull, but it was a Heavy Cavalry sword and Harper set to work on it.
It was a cheap blade, one of many made in Birmingham for Britain's Heavy Cavalry, nearly a yard of heavy steel that was clumsy and ill-balanced except in the hands of a strong man.
The first is that we need some cavalry scouts and eventually we'll need some heavy cavalry.
These armies fought with fanatic determination, but they were disorganized and only lightly armed, good enough to defeat the tribal hosts of Eigo, but not to stand on the battlefield against such as the legions, or even the heavy cavalry of the Czardhan knights.
A troop of heavy cavalry waited, down where the crewmen were manhandling the gangplank across to the pavement and looping thigh-thick ropes to the bollards.
A very good chance, actually, since the one thing not even the superhuman mind of Link will be expecting is to see twenty thousand Persian heavy cavalry come charging into the Indus valley out of the Kacchi Desert.
Only place around where infantry could fort up and have a chance against heavy cavalry.
Presumably that iron head cavalry had known the Boman would chase them, and presumably they'd also known that no heavy cavalry could outrun the Boman indefinitely.
One army of five hundred men was even composed entirely of heavy cavalry.