Phalanx — Defs

01 n. A body of heavy-armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep. There were several different arrangements, the phalanx varying in…

pl. Phalanxes, Phalanges ((#))

1.
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.(Gr. Antiq.)
“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.
One of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode.(Anat.)
5.
A group or bundle of stamens, as in polyadelphous flowers.(Bot.)