gang

• enPR: găng, IPA^(key): /ɡæŋ/
• Rhymes: -æŋ

From Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-Germanic *ganganą (“to go, walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step, walk”). Cognate with Scots gang (“to go on foot, walk”), Swedish gånga (“to walk, go”), Faroese ganga (“to walk”), Icelandic ganga (“to walk, go”), Vedic Sanskrit जंहस् (jáṃhas). Ultimately: related to etym. 2, see below.

gang (third-person singular simple present gangs, present participle ganging, simple past and past participle ganged)

1. (intransitive, chiefly Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To go; walk; proceed.
   • 1772, Richard Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover. A Comedy. Act III

     (Colin alone) Ah, Colin, thou’rt a prodigal; a thriftless loon thou’st been, that cou’d na’ keep a little pelf to thysall when thou had’st got it; now thou may’st gang in this poor geer to thy live's end, and worse too for aught I can tell; ’faith, mon, ’twas a smeart little bysack of money thou hadst scrap’d together, an the best part of it had na’ being last amongst thy kinsfolk, in the Isles of Skey and Mull; muckle gude may it do the weams of them that ha’ it! There was Jamie MacGregor and Sawney MacNab, and the twa braw lads of Kinruddin, with old Charley MacDougall, my mother's first husband's second cousin: by my sol I cou’d na’ see such near relations, and gentlemen of sich auncient families gang upon bare feet, while I rode a horseback: I had been na’ true Scot, an I cou’d na’ ge’en a countryman a gude last upon occasion (as he is going out, Miss Aubrey enters.)

From Middle English gang, from Old English gang (“a journey; way; passage”), from Proto-Germanic *gangaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰongʰ-o-s, from *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step; stride”). Cognate with Dutch gang, German Gang, Icelandic gangur, Norwegian gang (“hallway”), Old Norse gangr (“passage, hallway”), Swedish gång, Vedic Sanskrit जंहस् (jáṃhas).

gang (plural gangs)

1. (now chiefly dialectal) A going, journey; a course, path, track.
   • 1840, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Woodnotes I.3:

     In unploughed Maine he sought the lumberers’ gang / Where from a hundred lakes young rivers sprang

   • 1869, Papa André, Once a Week, page 418/1:

     That week was also called the Gang Week, from the Saxon ganger, to go; and the Rogation days were termed the Gang Days.

   • 1895, Frederick Tupper Jr., Anglo-Saxon Dæg-Mæl, Modern Language Association of America, page 229:

     Neither Marshall nor Bouterwek makes clear the connection existing between the Gang-days and the Major and Minor Litanies.

2. (obsolete) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
   • c. 1000, Aelfric, Homilies, Vol. I, page 290:

     Þaða he to gange com.

3. A number going in company; a number of friends or persons associated for a particular purpose.

   the Gashouse Gang

   The gang from our office is going out for drinks Friday night.

4. A group of laborers under one foreman; a squad.

   a gang of sailors; a railroad gang.

5. A criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city.

   a youth gang; a neighborhood gang; motorcycle gang.

6. A group of criminals or alleged criminals who band together for mutual protection and profit.

   The Winter Hill Gang was quite proficient at murdering rival mobsters in order to take over their rackets.

7. A group of politicians united in furtherance of a political goal.

   The Gang of Four was led by Jiang Qing, the fourth wife of Mao Zedong.

   Not all members of the Gang of Six are consistent in their opposition to filibuster.

8. (US) A chain gang.
9. A combination of similar tools or implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set.

   a gang of saws; a gang of plows.

10. A set; all required for an outfit.

    a new gang of stays.

11. (electrics) A number of switches or other electrical devices wired into one unit and covered by one faceplate.

    an outlet gang box; a double gang switch.

12. (electrics) A group of wires attached as a bundle.

    a gang of wires

    Do a drop for the telephone gang, then another drop for the Internet gang, both through the ceiling of the wiring closet.

• (outhouse): See Thesaurus:bathroom

• Thai: แก๊ง (gɛ́ɛng)

gang (third-person singular simple present gangs, present participle ganging, simple past and past participle ganged)

1. (intransitive) To band together as a group or gang.

   “Let's gang up on them.”

2. (transitive) to attach similar items together to form a larger unit.
   • 1999 May, Rosario Capotosto, “Building a Bookcase”, in Popular Mechanics:

     When cutting the back cleats with the T-guide, first gang them together so all the marks on one side align.

   • 2011, Corky Binggeli, Interior Graphic Standards: Student Edition, →ISBN, page 317:

     The chairs are usually ganged together using a variety of ganging or locking mechanisms to create rows and prevent the chairs from moving out of position.

• Appendix:English collective nouns

See gan.

gang (second-person singular simple present gangst)

1. Eye dialect spelling of gan.

Shortening of gangbang.

gang (third-person singular simple present gangs, present participle ganging, simple past and past participle ganged)

1. Synonym of gangbang: to have sex with a single partner as a gang.
   • 2015, Richard Allen, Skinhead, page 80:

     […] there's a thin line to tread to avoid fights or getting “ganged” when rejecting the sexual overtures of incarcerated women.

• The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.

gang (countable and uncountable, plural gangs)

1. (mining) Alternative form of gangue

• gnag

From Dutch gang.

gang (plural gange)

1. a passageway, alley

gang

1. second-person imperative singular of gaa

From Dutch gang (“passageway, alley”).

gang

1. alleyway, alley, narrow street. A narrow pathway bound by walls on both sides

• Hyphenation: gang

From English gang.

gang

1. a gang; a criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city

From langga, pangga. Compare lang.

gang

1. a term of address for a beloved person; dear; sweetie

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:gang.

• IPA^(key): /ɡ̊anɡ̊/, [ɡ̊ɑŋˀ]

From Old Danish gang, from Old Norse gangr, from Proto-Germanic *gangaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“stride, step”).

gang c (singular definite gangen, plural indefinite gange)

1. The act of walking, a walk.
2. An intended amount of something, especially time.
3. A way or path to walk on.
4. A person's business or activity.
5. One of the few cases where something takes place, a rare event.
6. A line or closed space that can be bypassed, usually by foot.
7. A room giving access to another room.
8. A narrow road built for pedestrians, usually in a public park or facility.

See gange.

gang

1. imperative of gange

• “gang” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “gang” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

From Middle Dutch ganc, from Old Dutch gank, gang, from Proto-Germanic *gangaz.

• IPA^(key): /ɣɑŋ/
• Rhymes: -ɑŋ

• audio

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gang m (plural gangen, diminutive gangetje n)

1. passageway, alley
2. gait, walk (person's manner of walking or stepping)
3. journey
4. hallway, corridor
5. course

Borrowed from English gang.

• (Canadian French) IPA^(key): /ɡaŋ/
• (France) IPA^(key): /ɡɑ̃ɡ/

• Audio

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• Audio (CAN)

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gang m (plural gangs)

1. gang, group of ill-doers

• “gang” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

gang

1. obsolete form of geh, second-person imperative singular of gehen

From Dutch gang (“passageway, alley”).

gang (plural gang-gang, first-person possessive gangku, second-person possessive gangmu, third-person possessive gangnya)

1. alleyway, alley, narrow street. A narrow pathway bound by walls on both sides

   gang buntu — dead-end alley

2. an organized crime group
3. a group of people with distinct identity, such as high school mates. See also geng

gang

1. to form a gang group

Borrowed from English gang.

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛnɡ/, [ɡɛŋɡ]

gang f (invariable, dated plural gangs)

1. gang, specifically:
   1. (dated) A group of people.
   2. (dated) A group of laborers under one foreman.
   3. A criminal group.

• ganga, ghenga (dated)

• Audio

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gang

1. Nonstandard spelling of gāng.
2. Nonstandard spelling of gǎng.
3. Nonstandard spelling of gàng.

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

From Old Norse gangr, also related to gå.

gang m (definite singular gangen, indefinite plural ganger, definite plural gangene)

1. hall, hallway

   Sett fra deg skoene i gangen.

   Leave your shoes in the hallway.

2. passage, corridor

   I enden av den lange gangen er klasserommet.

   The classroom is at the end of the long corridor.

3. aisle
4. walk, path
5. walk, walking, going
6. walk, gait

   Gangen hans er litt merkelig.

   His gait is a bit weird

7. working, running, action, movement, motion, operation
8. course; passage
9. course; march
10. time

    Vi vant fem ganger på rad!

    We won five times in a row!

11. plot, action

    Historiens gang var litt komplisert.

    The plot of the story was somewhat complicated.

12. (mining) dike, lode
13. vein
14. (anatomy) duct

• “gang” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse gangr, also related to gå.

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑŋː/

gang m (definite singular gangen, indefinite plural gangar, definite plural gangane)

1. hall, hallway

   Sett frå deg skorne i gangen.

   Leave your shoes in the hallway.

2. passage, corridor

   I enden av den lange gangen er klasserommet.

   The classroom is at the end of the long corridor.

3. aisle
4. walk, path
5. walk, walking, going
6. walk, gait

   Gangen hans er litt merkeleg.

   His gait is a bit weird

7. working, running, action, movement, motion, operation
8. course; passage
9. course; march
10. plot, action

    Gangen i soga var litt komplisert.

    The plot of the story was somewhat complicated.

11. (mining) dike, lode
12. vein
13. (anatomy) duct

• gong

• “gang” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• geng, gong, gung

From Proto-Germanic *gangaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ- (“to step; stride”). Related to Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”).

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑŋɡ/

gang m (nominative plural gangas)

1. going, journey, progress, track, footprint, flow, stream, way, passage, course, path

   Him tǽcean lífes weg and rihtne gang to heofonum.

   To teach them life's way and the right path to heaven.

2. a company of people

   Anastasius wæs geháten se arwurþa mæssepreóst þe se bisceop tó fundode swá fǽrlíce mid gange . . . Se bisceop gewende mid his gebróðrum hám.

   Anastasius was called the honorable mass-priest that the bishop, with company, so quickly departed to. . . The bishop returned home with his brothers.

3. drain, privy

   Ðonne him to gange lyst.

   When he desires the privy.

4. platform, stage, steps
5. occurrence; passage or lapse of time

   Geára gangum. — In the course of years.

• Middle English: gang, gong
  • Scots: gang
  • English: gang, gong, goung
    • → Dutch: gang
    • → Portuguese: gangue
    • → Norman: dgaîngue

From Proto-Germanic *gangaz.

gang m (plural ganga)

1. A path, course, way, journey; a going

• ubargang
• Wolfgang

• Middle High German: ganc
  • German: Gang

• Audio

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gang m (Portugal) or f (Brazil) (plural gangs)

1. Dated spelling of gangue.

• gae
• gan

From Old English gangan, Old Norse ganga, with inflected forms from Old English gān (like English go).

• IPA^(key): /ɡɑŋ/

gang (third-person singular present gangs, present participle gaun, past gaed, past participle gaen)

1. To go.
   • Robert Burns, "A Red, Red, Rose":

   And I will love thee still, my dear
   Till a’ the seas gang dry.

gang m (plural gangs)

1. gang

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ɣaːŋ˧˧]

From Proto-Vietic *c-kaːŋ (“handspan”).

gang

1. a handspan

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 鋼 (SV: cương).

gang

1. cast iron