phalanx
phalanx Lexical Profile
phalanx Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A tightly massed or united group of people, animals, or things sharing a common purpose.
"The celebrity had to navigate through a dense phalanx of photographers and reporters waiting outside the courthouse."
A compact body of troops or police officers standing or moving in close formation, originally an ancient Greek infantry formation with overlapping shields and long spears.
"Historians studied how the Macedonian phalanx revolutionized infantry tactics across the ancient Mediterranean world."
Any of the small, cylindrical bones forming the fingers of the hand or the toes of the foot in vertebrates.
"An X-ray of the pianist's hand revealed a hairline fracture in the distal phalanx of his right index finger."
Word Nuance & Usage
The plural form depends on the context: in anatomical contexts referring to finger and toe bones, the plural is almost exclusively 'phalanges', whereas for military formations or close-knit groups of people, 'phalanxes' is standard.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-16th century via Latin from Ancient Greek 'phalanx', originally meaning a round piece of wood or roller, and by extension a compact line of battle or a finger bone (due to their stacked, cylindrical arrangement).