Pha"lanx (?), n.; pl. Phalanxes (#), L. Phalanges (#). [L., from Gr. .]
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.