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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
But many critics — including transit, affordable housing, environmental justice and clean water groups — said this amounts to a dismantling of the program.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
-
The Kansas Coalition for Common Sense, which has supported the petition effort alongside the groups Prairie Progress Civic Action and Leading Kansas, slammed the response.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
In the coming years, as Erik Neander took over the baseball operations department, the Rays were at the forefront of analytics with defensive shifts, aggressive platoons, utilizing openers, creating a menagerie of arm slots in the bullpen and, yes, prioritizing exit velocity.—
John Romano,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 May 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
-
When in a forest, stay in proximity to shorter tree groupings.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
28 May 2026
-
When in a forest, stay in proximity to shorter tree groupings.—
STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 May 2026
Noun
-
And the zebra shade's alternating sheer and opaque bands offer precise control over light and privacy.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
-
Corgan was still dreaming of monster riffs in the vein of Jimmy Page balanced out with the goth sensibilities of bands like the Cure.—
David Harris,
SPIN,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
The team focused on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), a key electrochemical process that generates electricity in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
1 June 2026
-
The country’s southeastern region is home to one of the world’s largest hard-rock deposits of lithium, key for making batteries used in the renewable energy sector.—
semafor.com,
semafor.com,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
The company has benefited from the buildout of AI infrastructure as data centers demand greater networking capacity to move information between increasingly powerful computing clusters.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
30 May 2026
-
The numerous bright red dots strewn around M88’s spiral arms are old stars, while the pink and blue represent star clusters and dust clouds.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
30 May 2026
Noun
-
The Oklahoma City Thunder took on the San Antonio Spurs Saturday night to decide the Western Conference title, after a back-and-forth series that has seen both teams leading at various points.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
31 May 2026
-
Both teams qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that begin Tuesday.—
Lou Ponsi,
Oc Register,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phalanxes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phalanxes. Accessed 3 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
