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Webster 1913 Edition

Phalanx

Pha′lanx

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Phalanxes
(#)
, L.
Phalanges
(#)
.
[L., from Gr.
φάλαγξ
.]
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Phalanx

PHAL'ANX

,
Noun.
In Grecian antiquity, a square battalion or body of soldiers, formed in ranks and files close and deep, with their shields joined and pikes crossing each other, so as to render it almost impossible to break it. The Macedonian phalanx, celebrated for its force, consisted of 8000 men; but smaller bodies of soldiers were called by the same name.
1.
Any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of union.
2.
In anatomy, the three rows of small bones forming the fingers.
3.
In natural history, a term used to express the arrangement of the columns of a sort of fossil corolloid, called lithostrotion, found in Wales.

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