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A phalanx is a large group of people or things standing so close together that it is hard to push through them. News writers use it for a wall of police, a pack of photographers, or rows of supporters shoulder to shoulder.
A phalanx isphalanx是 a large group of people or things standing so close together一大群人或東西站得很密 that it is hard to push through them密到很難擠過去 News writers use it新聞寫作會用這個字 for a wall of police, a pack of photographers, or rows of supporters shoulder to shoulder來形容一整排警察、一群擠在一起的攝影記者，或肩並肩的一排支持者
The picture is old: in Ancient Greece, a phalanx was a battle line of soldiers packed tight, shields overlapping, spears forward. That hard-to-break shape is why we still use the word for a dense mass.
The picture is old這個畫面很古老 in Ancient Greece在古希臘 a phalanx was a battle line of soldiers packed tightphalanx指的是排得很密的士兵戰線 shields overlapping, spears forward盾牌互相重疊，長矛朝前 That hard-to-break shape is why we still use the word for a dense mass就是這種很難打破的隊形，讓我們現在還用這個字形容密密麻麻的一群
It is fairly formal, the kind of word you meet in newspapers more than in the kitchen. In casual talk you might just say 'a wall of people'.
It is fairly formal這個字算是滿正式的 the kind of word you meet in newspapers more than in the kitchen比較會出現在報紙上，不太會在家裡廚房講話用到 In casual talk口語裡 you might just say 'a wall of people'你可能就直接說'a wall of people'（一堵人牆）
(The same spelling also names a finger or toe bone, because those bones sit in a neat row — a different use of the word.)
(The same spelling also names a finger or toe bone（同樣的拼法也可以指手指或腳趾的骨頭 because those bones sit in a neat row因為那些骨頭整齊地排成一排 a different use of the word.)這是這個字的另一種用法。）
組成Borrowed from Latin phalanx, from Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx), a battle order or array. The Greek word could also mean a log of wood; that 'log' sense travelled another road and became English plank — same very old root, but the two words no longer look related.
同家族的字
- phalangefrom the same Greek word; in English it names a finger or toe bone
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Phalanxname
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The brand name of a radar-controlled rapid fire 20mm Gatling-type machine gun, the Phalanx CIWS (pronounced see-wiz), deployed on U.S. Navy ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.
phalanxnoun/ˈfælæŋks/
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historicalAn ancient Greek and Macedonian military unit that consisted of several ranks and files (lines) of soldiers in close array with joined shields and long spears.
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A large group of people, animals or things, compact or closely massed, or tightly knit and united in common purpose.
- The monarch hath gone, but his rocky throne Still rests on its frowning base; Its motionless guards rise in phalanx lone, And nought save the winds through their helmets that moan, And none but those bosoms and hearts of stone Sigh o'er a fallen race.
- But there was no man to greet them in the market-place, and no woman's face appeared at the windows - only a bodiless voice went before them, calling: "Fallen is Imperial Kôr! - fallen! - fallen! fallen!" On, right through the city, marched those gleaming phalanxes, and the rattle of their bony tread echoed through the silent air as they pressed grimly on.
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historicalhuman-sciencessciencessocial-scienceA Fourierite utopian community; a phalanstery.
- [Charles Fourier] calculated that if precisely 1,620 men, women and children were collected in a 6,000-acre phalanx, they would — all by merrily following their individual passions — end up satisfying all the phalanx’s essential needs.
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anatomymedicinesciencesOne of the bones of the finger or toe.
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biologybotanynatural-sciencesA bundle of stamens, in diadelphous and polyadelphous flowers.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。