Hypertext Webster Gateway: "phalanx"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Phalanx \Pha"lanx\, n.; pl. {Phalanxes}, L. {Phalanges}. [L.,
from Gr. ?.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
phalanx
n 1: any of the bones (or phalanges) of the fingers or toes
2: any closely ranked crowd of people
3: a body of troops in close array
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