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gang¹

(găng)

1. A group of criminals or hoodlums who band together for mutual protection and profit.

2. A group of adolescents who band together, especially a group of delinquents.

3. Informal A group of people who associate regularly on a social basis: The whole gang from the office went to a clambake.

4. A group of laborers organized together on one job or under one foreperson: a railroad gang.

5. 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.

v. ganged, gang·ing, gangs

v.intr.

To band together as a group or gang.

v.tr.

1. To arrange or assemble into a group, as for simultaneous operation or production: gang several pages onto one printing plate.

2. To attack as an organized group.

Phrasal Verb:

gang up

1. To join together in opposition or attack: The older children were always ganging up on the little ones.

2. To act together as a group: various agencies ganging up to combat the use of illicit drugs.

[Middle English, band of men, from Old English, journey, and Old Norse -gangr, journey, group (as in thjofagangr, gang of thieves).]

gang²

(găng)

Variant of gangue.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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