phalanx

noun pha·lanx \ ˈfā-ˌlaŋ(k)s , British usually ˈfa- \

|Updated on: 7 Aug 2018

Definition of phalanx

plural phalanxes or phalanges play \fə-ˈlan-(ˌ)jēz, fā-, ˈfā-ˌ, British usually fa-\

1 : a body of heavily armed infantry in ancient Greece formed in close deep ranks and files; broadly : a body of troops in close array

2 plural phalanges : one of the digital bones of the hand or foot of a vertebrate

3 plural usually phalanxes

a : a massed arrangement of persons, animals, or things

a phalanx of armed guards

b : an organized body of persons

a phalanx of lawyers

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Examples of phalanx in a Sentence

A solid phalanx of armed guards stood in front of the castle.
She had to go through a phalanx of television cameras.

Recent Examples of phalanx from the Web

The industry has a phalanx of lawyers to push their case in court, and is effective at charming Congress with lobbyists and celebrity star power.

— jeff john roberts, Fortune, "Why Spotify Will Never Make Money," 3 May 2018
Opening his royal checkbook, the king told his engineers to get to work creating a phalanx of thirteen huge trebuchets just outside the walls of Stirling castle.

— william gurstelle, Popular Mechanics, "The Legend of Ludgar the War Wolf, King of the Trebuchets," 1 May 2017
Chambers is part of a phalanx of veterans advocating for recognition of cannabis as a safe and effective painkiller to relieve the mental aches and physical wounds of war.

— patrik jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, "As war vets enter the fray, stigma lessens around cannabis," 5 July 2018
On Saturday, Garcia, executive director of Annunciation House, watched as a large white bus emblazoned with the emblem of the Department of Homeland Security lurched to a stop in front of a phalanx of reporters and volunteers.

— NBC News, "Here's how hard it is to find a migrant kid who has been separated from his mom," 25 June 2018
Trauma creates multifaceted problems on many fronts that can only be tackled with a broad phalanx of social and clinical work — one individual at a time.

— john schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Marquette trying to form massive coalition in effort to treat community's trauma," 7 June 2018
The barbed wire fences and phalanx of soldiers haven’t kept the speculators away.

— victoria kim, latimes.com, "An unexpected consequence of the thaw between the two Koreas: a budding real estate boom along the DMZ," 20 June 2018
Visitors with food cups are quickly immersed in a phalanx of gregarious deer.

— roger naylor, azcentral, "Arizona road trip: Williams has Route 66, Bearizona and cool summer fun," 15 June 2018
Vassell, 34, brandishes a metal pipe as a phalanx of New York City police officers confront him during a complaint about a possible armed man on the street corner.

— aamer madhani, USA TODAY, "Video in Toronto killings shows a divide between U.S. and Canada on deadly force," 26 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'phalanx.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The original sense of "phalanx" refers to a military formation that was used in ancient warfare and consisted of a tight block of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, several rows deep, often with shields joined. The word phalanx comes from the Greeks, though they were not the only ones who used this formation. The Greek term literally means "log" and was used for both this line of battle and for a bone in a finger or toe. The word and its senses passed into Latin and then were adopted into English in the 16th century. These days, a "phalanx" can be any arranged mass, whether of persons, animals, or things, or a body of people organized in a particular effort.

Origin and Etymology of phalanx

Latin phalang-, phalanx, from Greek, battle line, digital bone, literally, log — more at balk

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1553

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Military Terms

bivouac, logistics, petard, salient, sally, supernumerary, tactical

PHALANX Defined for English Language Learners

phalanx

noun

Definition of phalanx for English Language Learners

: a large group of people, animals, or things often placed close together

Medical Dictionary

phalanx

noun pha·lanx \ ˈfā-ˌlaŋ(k)s, British usually ˈfal-ˌaŋ(k)s \

medical Definition of phalanx

plural phalanges \fə-ˈlan-(ˌ)jēz, fā-, ˈfā-ˌ, British usually fal-ˈan-\

: any of the digital bones of the hand or foot distal to the metacarpus or metatarsus of a vertebrate that in humans are three to each finger and toe with the exception of the thumb and big toe which have only two each