gang

¹ American  

[gang] / gæŋ /

noun

1. a group or band.

   A gang of boys gathered around the winning pitcher.

   Synonyms:

   coterie, clique, circle, set, party, band, crew, crowd, company

2. a group of youngsters or adolescents who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, especially such a group engaging in delinquent behavior.

3. a group of people with compatible tastes or mutual interests who gather together for social reasons.

   I'm throwing a party for the gang I bowl with.

4. a group of persons working together; squad; shift.

   a gang of laborers.

   Synonyms:

   team

5. a group of persons associated for some criminal or other antisocial purpose.

   a gang of thieves.

6. a set of tools, electronic components or circuits, oars, etc., arranged to work together or simultaneously.

7. a group of identical or related items.

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verb (used with object)

1. to arrange in groups or sets; form into a gang.

   to gang illustrations for more economical printing on one sheet.

2. to attack in a gang.

verb (used without object)

1. to form or act as a gang.

   Cutthroats who gang together hang together.

verb phrase

1. gang up on (of a number of persons) to unite in opposition to (a person); combine against.

   The bigger boys ganged up on the smaller ones in the schoolyard.

gang ² American  

[gang] / gæŋ /

verb (used without object)

Chiefly Scot. and North England.

1. to walk or go.

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gang ¹ British  

/ ɡæŋ /

noun

1. a group of people who associate together or act as an organized body, esp for criminal or illegal purposes

2. an organized group of workmen

3. a herd of buffaloes or elks or a pack of wild dogs

4. a group of shearers who travel to different shearing sheds, shearing, classing, and baling wool

5. 1. a series of similar tools arranged to work simultaneously in parallel

   2. ( as modifier )

      a gang saw

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verb

1. to form into, become part of, or act as a gang

2. (tr) electronics to mount (two or more components, such as variable capacitors) on the same shaft, permitting adjustment by a single control

gang ² British  

/ ɡæŋ /

verb

1. to go

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gang ³ British  

/ ɡæŋ /

noun

1. a variant spelling of gangue

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gang Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing gang

• like gangbusters

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Other Word Forms

• ganged adjective

Etymology

Origin of gang¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English gang, gong, Old English gang, gong “manner of going, way, passage”; cognate with Old High German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg; gang ²

Origin of gang²

First recorded before 900; Middle English gangen, Old English gangan, gongan; cognate with Old High German gangan, Old Norse ganga, Gothic gaggan; gang ¹ (noun derivative from same root)

Example Sentences

Her story comes as the terms of reference for the statutory independent inquiry into grooming gangs are published.

From BBC

“And I wouldn’t have gone back to my lessons with her without you guys. I’ll owe the gang for that for a long time.”

From Literature

Then, sufficiently disturbed, he hauls in the AI cheerleaders, a suspiciously positive gang who can envision only medical miracles and grindless lives in which we’re all full-time artists.

From Los Angeles Times

Key documents for the grooming gangs inquiry may already have been lost due to Home Office errors, a Labour MP has told the BBC.

From BBC

The inner tubes, which are often given by people smugglers to migrants on Channel boats in place of life jackets, were then transported to several storage locations controlled by the gang in Germany.

From BBC

Related Words

• band
• bunch
• clan
• clique
• company
• crew
• organization
• party
• ring
• squad
• syndicate
• team
• tribe
• troop