gang up

verb

ganged up; ganging up; gangs up

intransitive verb

1
: to make a joint assault
ganged up on him and beat him up
2
: to combine for a specific purpose
ganged up to raise prices
3
: to exert group pressure
ganged up against the boss

Examples of gang up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Opponents of the measure said Tlaib’s comments fell well short of censure, with allies saying lawmakers were ganging up on her unfairly. Katy Stech Ferek, WSJ, 9 Nov. 2023 The commenting community formed its own exoplanet to the actual content of Jezebel, occasionally ganging up on the site’s writers. Erin Gloria Ryan, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023 To be sure, Russia continued to improve relations with China—a policy begun in the late Soviet period to prevent Beijing and Washington from ganging up on Moscow. Thomas Graham, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2023 In the early 1900s, for example, the United Kingdom set aside its differences with France, Russia, and the United States to gang up on Germany; the result was World War I. Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023 The main reasons for this include the fear of retaliation by perpetrators and their supporters, who may gang up against targets, fear of losing their jobs and/or visas, and the paucity of fair and unbiased actions against perpetrators in a timely and efficient manner. Morteza Mahmoudi, STAT, 13 Feb. 2022 Mao justified enhanced surveillance and repression of the population on the grounds that Chiang and the American imperialists were ganging up on the new Communist state. Jane Perlez, Foreign Affairs, 28 Feb. 2023 He and my three teens all gang up on me about this. John Hodgman, New York Times, 25 May 2023 Rome and Gary gang up on Eddie for thinking Aaron Burr was Black because of Hamilton. Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 4 May 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gang up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of gang up was in 1910

Dictionary Entries Near gang up

Cite this Entry

“Gang up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gang%20up. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

gang up

verb
: to join together for an often hostile purpose
ganged up on their little brother
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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