phalanx Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of the bones of the fingers or toes
  2. noun any closely ranked crowd of people
  3. noun a body of troops in close array

WordNet

Pha"lanx noun
Etymology
L., from Gr. .
Wordforms
plural Phalanxes L Phalanges
Definitions
  1. (Gr. Antiq.) A body of heavy-armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep. There were several different arrangements, the phalanx varying in depth from four to twenty-five or more ranks of men. "In cubic phalanx firm advanced." Milton.
    The Grecian phalanx, moveless as a tower. Pope.
  2. Any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union.
    At present they formed a united phalanx. Macaulay.
    The sheep recumbent, and the sheep that grazed, All huddling into phalanx, stood and gazed. Cowper.
  3. A Fourierite community; a phalanstery.
  4. (Anat.) One of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode.
  5. pl. Phalanges. (Bot.) A group or bundle of stamens, as in polyadelphous flowers.

Webster 1913