WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Pha"lanx, n.; pl. Phalanxes
Part of Speech : L.
Etymology : [L., from Gr.
Definition : 1. (Gr. Antiq.)

Defn: 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.)

Defn: One of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode.

5. Etym: [pl. Phalanges.] (Bot.)

Defn: A group or bundle of stamens, as in polyadelphous flowers.

Phalanges.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913