From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishphalanxpha‧lanx /ˈfælæŋks $ ˈfeɪ-/ noun (plural phalanxes) [countable] formal GROUP OF PEOPLEa large group of people or things standing close together so that it is difficult to go through themphalanx of A solid phalanx of policemen blocked the road.
Examples from the Corpus
phalanx• Stepping off the plane, the President faced a phalanx of cameras and reporters.• The blast from a phalanx of heaters struck me on opening the door.• Another group was loading kit into a phalanx of jeeps.• Four made a phalanx before the booth, tapping their lead truncheons, their feet splayed like a squad of riot police.• She wants a phalanx of allies at her back before she climbs those stairs again.• He spotted another phalanx of flies stuck to the walls.• But if it came to a pitched battle, the phalanx of heavily armed, well-mounted knights was a very formidable weapon.• The phalanx of ladies drew me away from there and up a gully.Origin phalanx (1500-1600) Latin Greek, “line of a battle, bone of a finger or toe” 