variants
or phalanges
as in groups
formal
a large collection of people, animals, or things often placed close together
A solid phalanx of armed guards stood in front of the castle. She had to go through a phalanx of television cameras.
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Recent Examples of phalanxes
Limbs are quickly assembled from shoulders and hips down to the phalanges.
—
Jeff Wilson, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
Jennifer Lawrence, who recently accessorized her black-and-white Lii dress with a slew of silver rings across her phalanges.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 19 Nov. 2025
In earlier times, ungulate toe-bones (phalanges) were commonly used across various cultures to make ornaments, game pieces, handles, and figurines.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
The further out one is known as the interphalangeal joint because your toe has two bones, the distal and the proximal phalanges.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Jeff Wilson, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026
Jennifer Lawrence, who recently accessorized her black-and-white Lii dress with a slew of silver rings across her phalanges.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 19 Nov. 2025
In earlier times, ungulate toe-bones (phalanges) were commonly used across various cultures to make ornaments, game pieces, handles, and figurines.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
The further out one is known as the interphalangeal joint because your toe has two bones, the distal and the proximal phalanges.
—Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phalanxes
Noun
-
The coach also pulled small groups of challenging students out of Lignore’s class to teach them social and emotional skills and helped Lignore make and consistently use behavior charts with her students.—
Stacker,
Hartford Courant,
9 May 2026
-
The ambassadors wore Day-Glo-green T-shirts and usually worked in groups of two or three.—
Oren Peleg,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Noun
-
The Rays were also at the forefront of other innovations and/or adjustments, such as defensive shifts, lineup platoons, matchup bullpens, star-quality super-utility players and putting a numbers nerd (technically a process and analytics coach) in the dugout.—
Marc Topkin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Outfield requires far more starting spots, and most of those available later in drafts are locked in platoons.—
Dalton Del Don,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Their brigades are like one out of six that work.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
9 May 2026
-
In Cairo, a famously nocturnal city, shops and restaurants are now forced to close at 9 pm, with police brigades sweeping through the broad downtown avenues to urge everyone to go home.—
Tim McDonnell,
semafor.com,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
To prevent mealybug infestations, allow airflow between plant groupings and keep infected plants away from healthy ones.—
Madeline Buiano,
Martha Stewart,
14 May 2026
-
When in a forest, stay in proximity to shorter tree groupings.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
Center lids on jars and screw bands fingertip tight (just until resistance is met).—
Kelly Brant,
Arkansas Online,
12 May 2026
-
In the 1980s, an unprecedented number of Scottish bands became internationally popular, including Orange Juice, Big Country, The Blue Nile, and The Jesus and Mary Chain, who like the Cocteaus would go far with the combination of electric guitars, drum machines, and a ton of reverb.—
Al Shipley,
SPIN,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
Georgia is known for peaches, pecans and more recently, making electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.—
Drew Kann,
AJC.com,
11 May 2026
-
The batteries inside utility-scale storage facilities are built to far stricter standards, sited under the most rigorous fire code in the country, and monitored 24/7.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
Along its spiral arms, bright orange pockets mark areas where new star clusters are forming, carving out glowing bubbles in the surrounding material.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
10 May 2026
-
Lion’s ear produce clusters of fuzzy orange flowers that give the plant its common name.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
10 May 2026
Noun
-
After Minnesota killed the first penalty of the game — an accomplishment of note with the way the Wild penalty kill was torched in the first two games — Kaprizov opened the scoring with the teams skating 4-on-4, completing a speedy rush to the net after a set-up pass from Faber.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
10 May 2026
-
The teams that Weltman has constructed over the past nine years have, in my view, consistently lacked good 3-point shooting or an athletic presence at center.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phalanxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phalanxes. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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