phalanx

[ fey-langks, fal-angks ]

noun

, plural pha·lanx·es pha·lan·ges [f, uh, -, lan, -jeez].

1. (in ancient Greece) a group of heavily armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping.
2. any body of troops in close array.
3. a number of individuals, especially persons united for a common purpose.
4. a compact or closely massed body of persons, animals, or things.
5. Phalanx, Military. a radar-controlled U.S. Navy 20 mm Gatling-type gun deployed on ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.
6. (in Fourierism) a group of about 1800 persons, living together and holding their property in common.
7. Anatomy, Zoology. any of the bones of the fingers or toes.

verb (used without object)

1. Printing. to arrange the distribution of work in a shop as evenly as possible.

phalanx

/ ˈfælæŋks /

noun

1. an ancient Greek and Macedonian battle formation of hoplites presenting long spears from behind a wall of overlapping shields
2. any closely ranked unit or mass of people

   the police formed a phalanx to protect the embassy

3. a number of people united for a common purpose
4. (in Fourierism) a group of approximately 1800 persons forming a commune in which all property is collectively owned
5. anatomy any of the bones of the fingers or toes phalangeal
6. botany
   1. a bundle of stamens, joined together by their stalks (filaments)
   2. a form of vegetative spread in which the advance is on a broad front, as in the common reed Compare guerrilla

phalanx

/ fā′lăngks′ /

, Plural phalanges fə-lăn′jēz

1. Any of the small bones of the fingers or toes in humans or the digits of many other vertebrates.

Word History and Origins

Origin of phalanx¹

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin, from Greek phálanx “military formation, bone of finger or toe, wooden roller”

Word History and Origins

Origin of phalanx¹

C16: via Latin from Greek: infantry formation in close ranks, bone of finger or toe

Example Sentences

Vaccines offered Moderna’s CEO, Bancel, a chance to advance a phalanx of new products.

From MIT Technology Review

A phalanx of police officers stood at attention on each side of the plaza.

From Washington Post

When the surviving phalanx of Massachusetts volunteers arrived at the Capitol building, “they were a tired, dusty, and bedraggled lot of men, showing every evidence of the struggle which they had so recently passed through,” a doorkeeper recalled.

From Washington Post

They marched us all — a phalanx of senators, staff and press — through multiple office buildings in search of the safest grounds to shelter on the Capitol complex.

From Washington Post

All the confusion finally gave way to a Bowl Championship Series from 1998-2013, in which a phalanx of humans and computers would choose two teams to play in one championship game.

From Washington Post

A phalanx of cops formed behind them as they started across.

From The Daily Beast

A phalanx of money-changers runs between the shops, converting Pakistani rupees to Afghan afghanis to U.S. dollars on the fly.

From The Daily Beast

Who can forget the indelible images of that White Bronco being chased by a phalanx of cop cars on June 17, 1994?

From The Daily Beast

I was among more than a hundred protestors from Occupy L.A., and facing a phalanx of police with riot equipment.

From The Daily Beast

Their carefully scripted words, examined beforehand no doubt by a phalanx of spinmeisters, were barely above a monotone.

From The Daily Beast

He took office with the intention of carrying out the king's policy of breaking up the whig phalanx and bringing about a peace.

From Project Gutenberg

Again, how could a phalanx mount to the edge of the river bank, when it was precipitous and covered with brushwood?

From Project Gutenberg

What portion of the cavalry was it, then, that was on the centre of the phalanx, and was terrified by the elephants?

From Project Gutenberg

And what is it that brings disaster on those who employ the phalanx?Why the phalanx fails.

From Project Gutenberg

It remains now to compareThe Roman more open order compared with the phalanx.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• army
• flock
• horde
• multitude
• throng