phalanx

UK: /ˈfælæŋks/

US: /ˈfeɪlæŋks, ˈfælæŋks/

US: (fā′langks, fal′angks)

Inflections of 'phalanx' (n):

phalanxes

npl

phalanges

npl

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

pha•lanx /ˈfeɪlæŋks, ˈfælæŋks/   n. [countable] , pl. pha•lanx•es. 

1. Military a body of troops fighting in close formation.
2. a number of people united for a common purpose:
   a phalanx of her supporters at the trial.
3. a tightly, closely packed body of people, animals, or things:
   a phalanx of riot police.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

pha•lanx  (fā′langks, fal′angks), n., pl. pha•lanx•es or, for 7, pha•lan•ges (fə lan′jēz), v. 
n. 

1. Ancient History (in ancient Greece) a group of heavily armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping.
2. Military any body of troops in close array.
3. a number of individuals, esp. persons united for a common purpose.
4. a compact or closely massed body of persons, animals, or things.
5. Military (cap.) a radar-controlled U.S. Navy 20mm Gatling-type gun deployed on ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.
6. Sociology (in Fourierism) a group of about 1800 persons, living together and holding their property in common.
7. Anatomy, Zoology, Zoology any of the bones of the fingers or toes. See diag. under skeleton. 

v.i. 

8. Printing to arrange the distribution of work in a shop as evenly as possible.

• Greek phálanx military formation, bone of finger or toe, wooden roller
• Latin
• 1545–55

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

phalanx / ˈfælæŋks/ noun (phalanxes, phalanges / fæˈlændʒiːz/)

1. an ancient Greek and Macedonian battle formation of hoplites presenting long spears from behind a wall of overlapping shields
2. any closely ranked unit or mass of people: the police formed a phalanx to protect the embassy
3. a number of people united for a common purpose
4. any of the bones of the fingers or toes
5. a bundle of stamens, joined together by their stalks (filaments)
6. a form of vegetative spread in which the advance is on a broad front, as in the common reed
   Compare guerrilla

Etymology: 16th Century: via Latin from Greek: infantry formation in close ranks, bone of finger or toe