gang-up

[gang-uhp]

noun

1. an act of ganging up or uniting in opposition to someone or something.

gang up

verb

1. informal,  to combine in a group (against)

Word History and Origins

Origin of gang up¹

1935–40; noun use of verb phrase gang up ( on )

Idioms and Phrases

Also, gang up with . Act together as a group. For example, The residents ganged up to make the neighborhood safer . [ Colloquial ; c. 1920]

. Join in opposition or attack against, as in The big kids were always ganging up on the little ones , or They all ganged up against the substitute teacher . [1920s]

Example Sentences

The good news is there is a way to disable the gang-up tactic.

From Salon

The maid of honor is scared of broaching this subject, but if we all do it together, does that feel like a gang-up?

From Slate

On Saturday, Yang and Garcia rallied together; Adams’s campaign labeled that the “Yang Gang-Up” and released statements from prominent Black supporters who accused a White woman and an Asian man of trying to suppress Black progress.

From Washington Post

The gang-up on Warren wasn’t entirely a product of all of the second-tier candidates looking at the polls and knowing whose lead they had to claw back.

From Slate

But this would leave out the European allies—who did play an important political role in the wars against Iraq—and it would accentuate the perception that this is nothing but a gang-up by Sunni Arabs, Zionists, and America against Shiites, thereby aggravating the region’s sectarian conflicts.

From Slate

Related Words

• assemble 
• choose 
• cluster 
• collect 
• congregate 
• convene 
• converge 
• crowd 
• draw 
• flock 
• huddle 
• meet 
• pick 
• round up 
• show up