Pha″lanx (?), n.; pl.Phalanxes (#), L. Phalanges (#). 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.