noun
- A group of criminals or hoodlums who band together for mutual protection and profit.
- A group of adolescents who band together, especially a group of delinquents.
- Informal A group of people who associate regularly on a social basis: The whole gang from the office went to a clambake.
- A group of laborers organized together on one job or under one foreperson: a railroad gang.
- A matched or coordinated set, as of tools: a gang of chisels.
a. A pack of wolves or wild dogs.
b. A herd, especially of buffalo or elk.
verb
ganged, gang·ing, gangs verb
intransitiveTo band together as a group or gang.
verb
transitive- To arrange or assemble into a group, as for simultaneous operation or production: gang several pages onto one printing plate.
- To attack as an organized group.
Phrasal Verbs: gang up To join together in opposition or attack:
The older children were always ganging up on the little ones. To act together as a group:
various agencies ganging up to combat the use of illicit drugs. Origin of gang
Middle English
band of men from Old English
journey and Old Norse
-gangr journey, group (
as in thjofagangr gang of thieves )
Verb (third-person singular simple present gangs, present participle ganging, simple past and past participle ganged)
- (intransitive, chiefly UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To go; walk; proceed.
Origin From Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-Germanic *ganganą (“to go, walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step, walk”). Cognate with Scots gang (“to go on foot, walk”), Swedish gånga (“to walk, go”), Faroese ganga (“to walk”), Icelandic ganga (“to walk, go”). Ultimately: related to etym. 2, see below.
Noun (plural gangs)
- (now chiefly dialectal) A going, journey; a course, path, track.
- A number going in company; a number of friends or persons associated for a particular purpose.
- the Gashouse Gang
- The gang from our office is going out for drinks Friday night.
- A group of laborers under one foreman; a squad.
- a gang of sailors; a railroad gang.
- (US) A criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city.
- a youth gang; a neighborhood gang; motorcycle gang.
- A group of criminals or alleged criminals who band together for mutual protection and profit, or a group of politicians united in furtherance of a political goal.
- the Winter Hill gang; the Gang of Four.
- Not all members of the Gang of Six are consistent in their opposition to filibuster.
- (US) A chain gang.
- A combination of similar tools or implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set.
- a gang of saws; a gang of plows.
- A set; all required for an outfit.
- a new gang of stays.
- (electrics) A number of switches or other electrical devices wired into one unit and covered by one faceplate.
- an outlet gang box; a double gang switch.
- (electrics) A group of wires attached as a bundle.
- a gang of wires
- Do a drop for the telephone gang, then another drop for the internet gang, both through the ceiling of the wiring closet.
- (mining) The mineral substance which encloses a vein; a matrix; a gangue.
Verb (third-person singular simple present gangs, present participle ganging, simple past and past participle ganged)
- (intransitive) To band together as a group or gang.
- "Let's gang up on them."
Origin From Middle English gang, from Old English gang (“a journey, a way, a passage”), from Proto-Germanic *gangaz. Cognate with Dutch gang, Icelandic gangur, Norwegian gang ("hallway"), Old Norse gangr (passage, hallway).
Verb (second-person singular simple present gangst)
- Eye dialect spelling of gan.
