serried ranks• At least a hundred thousand people surrounded the cathedral where the chiefs in all their finery were massed in serried ranks.• Dexter stood at the back of the conference suite behind the video cameras and serried ranks of reporters.• There were occasions to admire the police enmasse as they marched in serried ranks to patriotic tunes from the Police Band.
Originserried
(1600-1700)serry“to press close together”((16-19 centuries)), from Frenchserrer, from Late Latinserare“to lock”