phalanx

plural phalanxes · formal literary plural phalanges · plural phalanges · archaic plural proscribed phalanxes

1. historicalAn ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
2. A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose.

   Broad phalanx of cars across the bridge moving slowly through the streaming snow.

   1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 331

   5 more examples

   The monarch hath gone, but his rocky throne Still rests on its frowning base; Its motionless guards rise in phalanx lone, And nought save the winds through their helmets that moan, And none but those bosoms and hearts of stone Sigh o'er a fallen race.

   1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, The Chair of the Indian KIng, page 93

   But there was no man to greet them in the market-place, and no woman's face appeared at the windows - only a bodiless voice went before them, calling: "Fallen is Imperial Kôr! - fallen! - fallen! fallen!" On, right through the city, marched those gleaming phalanxes, and the rattle of their bony tread echoed through the silent air as they pressed grimly on.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

   From Courbevoie to the Hôtel des Invalides, one walked through a hedge of elaborate decorations—of bees, eagles, crowns, N’s; of bucklers, banners, and wreaths bearing the names of famous victories; of urns blazing with incense; of rostral columns; masts bearing trophies of arms and clusters of flags; flaming tripods; allegorical statues; triumphal arches; great banks of seats draped in imperial purple and packed with spectators, and phalanges of soldiers.

   1895, Ida M[inerva] Tarbell, “The Second Funeral of Napoleon.—Removal of Napoleon’s Remains from St. Helena to the Banks of the Seine in 1840.”, in A Short Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, New York, N.Y.: S[amuel] S[idney] MᶜClure, Limited […], page 240, column 1

   The Guardian today listed a phalanx of ministers who back the bill, including Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, Tony McNulty, the policing minister, Andy Burnham, the junior health minister, Ian Pearson, the climate change minister, John Healey, the financial secretary to the Treasury, and Keith Hill, parliamentary private secretary to Tony Blair.

   2007 April 25, Hélène Mulholland, “Blair refuses to condemn FoI bill”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2014

   There, the Paisleyites were being held back by another phalanx of soldiers and policemen.

   2007 May 6, Sean O'Hagan, “The day I thought would never come: This week, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will astonish those who experienced the Troubles”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2014

3. historicalhuman sciencesA Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery.

   [Charles Fourier] calculated that if precisely 1,620 men, women and children were collected in a 6,000-acre phalanx, they would — all by merrily following their individual passions — end up satisfying all the phalanx’s essential needs.

   2009 April 16, Jon Mooallem, “The End Is Near! (Yay!)”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

4. anatomyOne of the bones of the finger or toe.

   Synonyms: phalange, phalangeal

5. biologyA bundle of stamens, in diadelphous and polyadelphous flowers.

1. The brand name of a radar-controlled rapid fire 20mm Gatling-type machine gun, the Phalanx CIWS (pronounced see-wiz), deployed on U.S. Navy ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.