[pha.lanx] n, pl pha.lanx.es or pha.lan.ges [L phalang-, phalanx, fr. Gk, battle line, digital bone, lit., log--more at balk] (1553) 1: a body of heavily armed infantry in ancient Greece formed in close deep ranks and files; broadly: a body of troops in close array
2. pl phalanges: one of the digital bones of the hand or foot of a vertebrate 3 pl usu phalanxes a: a massed arrangement of persons, animals, or things b: an organized body of persons