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gangs - 4 dictionary results

gang

1  [gang]
Use gangs in a Sentence
–noun
1. a group or band: A gang of boys gathered around the winning pitcher.
2. a group of youngsters or adolescents who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, esp. 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.
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.
–verb (used with object)
8. to arrange in groups or sets; form into a gang: to gang illustrations for more economical printing on one sheet.
9. to attack in a gang.
–verb (used without object)
10. to form or act as a gang: Cutthroats who gang together hang together.
—Verb phrase
11. gang up on, Informal. (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.
Origin:
1300–50; ME; OE gang, gong manner of going, way, passage; c. OHG gang, ON gangr, Goth gagg; cf. gang 2

Synonyms:
1. company, crowd, crew; party, set, clique, coterie. 4. team.

gang

2  [gang]
–verb (used without object) Chiefly Scot. and North England.
to walk or go.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME gangen, OE gangan, gongan; c. OHG gangan, ON ganga, Goth gaggan; cf. gang 1 , n. deriv. from same base
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To gangs
gang 1   (gāng)   
n.  
  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.
    1. A pack of wolves or wild dogs.
    2. A herd, especially of buffalo or elk. See Synonyms at flock1.
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(s):
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).]
gangue also gang   (gāng)   
n.  Worthless rock or other material in which valuable minerals are found.

[French, from German Gang, lode, from Middle High German ganc, from Old High German gang, a going.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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