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

Rhodes then challenged Travis Scott to get in the ring — noting that both the rapper, Cena and the Rock had been the ones who’d ganged up on him last month during the WWE PLE Elimination Chamber. —Shaheem Reid, Variety, 21 Apr. 2025

For an hour in Iowa, a room full of Senator Charles Grassley's constituents ganged up on the 91-year-old Republican. —CBS News, 20 Apr. 2025

Perez and Rodriguez ganged up on Kairi, but Asuka made the save. —Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025

In the ensuing Panthers’ power play, the Canadian squad turned its attention to Matthew Tkachuk as a pair of Oilers ganged up on the winger behind the Edmonton net, touching off another round of pushing and shoving. —Kevin Dotson, CNN Money, 10 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gang up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

gang up

verb

: to join together for an often hostile purpose

ganged up on their little brother