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.-any body of troops or men formed in close array, or any combination of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of a union.-a fourierite community; a phalanstery.-one of the digital bones of the hand or foot, beyond the metacarpus or metatarsus; an internode.-a group or bundle of stamens, as in polyadelphous flowers.