phalange

noun

• 1 Anatomyanother term for phalanx (sense 2).

  [ mid 19th century: back-formation from phalanges, plural of phalanx]

• 2 (Phalange) a right-wing Maronite party in Lebanon founded in 1936 by Pierre Gemayel. Compare with Falange.

  [ mid 20th century: shortened from French Phalanges Libanaises 'Lebanese phalanxes']