gang

1 of 2

verb (1)

ganged; ganging; gangs

intransitive verb

: to move or act as a gang

Her opponents ganged together to oppose her nomination.

see also gang up

transitive verb

1

: to attack (a person) as a gang

They ganged him and took his money.

2

a

: to assemble (mechanical or electronic parts) so that they may be operated simultaneously as a group

Potentiometers are often ganged together so that the resistance in several circuits can be changed simultaneously.

—Richard Fowler

b

: to arrange or produce (something, such as pages of typeset material) together as a unit

… ganged the printing of 2000 cards to achieve a cost-efficient price per card of 38 cents.

—Vilma Barr

—often used with up

Where decals are large they may be printed singly; where small, more than one may be ganged up on one screen to save effort and to produce more copies in one impression.

—Albert Kosloff

gang

2 of 2

verb (2)

ganged; ganging; gangs

intransitive verb

Scotland

: go

Examples of gang in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Sixteen years after the devastating earthquake which killed some 200,000 people and left more than a million homeless, the government has all but collapsed and gangs battle for control of the capital Port-au-Prince. —Denise Schrier Cetta, CBS News, 15 Mar. 2026

In October, Congress reformed laws to declare members of the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs terrorists. —Sonia Pérez D, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2026

And in terms of regulation, his policies aren’t very surprising: Republicans and deregulation often gang together like salt and pepper. —Byalena Botros, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2024

Diaz, Sanchez and Lerma ganged together at the far post, where they were joined, at the last second, by left-back Johan Mojica. —Jack Lang, The Athletic, 14 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

derivative of gang entry 1

Verb (2)

Middle English gangen, gongen & early Scots gang, going back to Old English gangan, gongan, going back to Germanic *gangan- (whence Old Saxon & Old High German gangan"to go," Old Norse ganga, Gothic gaggan), probably going back to Indo-European *ǵhenǵh-i̯̯e-, whence also Lithuanian žeñgti "to stride"

Note: Old English gangan, a Class VII strong verb, was used more or less as a synonym of gān, the ancestor of Modern English go entry 1 (itself descended from Germanic *gēn-), though forms other than the present tense and infinitive rarely occur. In other Germanic languages cognates of gangan served and still serve as suppletive forms of the parallel cognates of gān. Compare note at gang entry 1.

First Known Use

Verb (1)

1791, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Verb (2)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gang

• anti-gang
• chain gang
• gang bang
• gang hook
• gang rape
• gang-tackle
• gang up
• inter-gang
• press-gang
• section gang

Rhymes for gang

• bang
• chuang
• clang
• dang
• drang
• fang
• gangue
• hang
• hange
• kang
• langue
• liang

Kids Definition

gang

1 of 2 noun

ˈgaŋ 

1

: two or more tools or devices arranged to work together

2

: a group of persons working or going about together

3

: a group of persons associated together to do something illegal

4

: a group of friends

gang

2 of 2 verb

: to form into or move or act as a gang

Legal Definition

gang

noun

: a group of persons associating for antisocial and often criminal purposes and activities