phalanx

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a close-ranked formation of soldiers, especially the spear-bearing formation of ancient Greece and Macedonia

   The phalanx advanced behind a wall of overlapping shields and projecting spears.

2. 2
   noun

   a compact, organized group of people or things

   A phalanx of lawyers surrounded the witness as she left the courthouse.

3. 3
   noun

   any one of the bones in a finger or toe

   The scan showed a small fracture in the distal phalanx of his index finger.

Borrowed through Latin phalanx from Ancient Greek phalanx, 'line of battle, array,' and also 'log' or 'roller.' The image of a solid row produced the military sense and later the figurative sense of a compact group; anatomy uses the same Greek word for a finger or toe bone.

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