From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishyeomanryyeo‧man‧ry /ˈjəʊmənri $ ˈjoʊ-/ noun [plural] literaryBOTA the people in Britain in the past who owned and farmed their own land
Examples from the Corpus
yeomanry• He was in command of the local corps of yeomanry and quickly gathered about ten of them for the defence of Carewscourt.• Four troops of yeomanry were held in reserve in Luton but were not needed.• The Protestant yeomanry still rode around the countryside intent on driving home the lessons of 1798: Rebellion will be punished!• Most families prominent in the iron trade came from the yeomanry and lesser gentry, though there were a few bigger men.• The yeomanry arrived and carted forty-four rioters off to Oxford gaol. 