gangway

From Middle English gangway, from Old English gangweġ (“passageway; thoroughfare”), equivalent to gang +‎ way. Related to Dutch gang (“hallway”) and Norwegian gang (“hallway”).

gangway (plural gangways)

1. A passageway through which to enter or leave, such as one between seating areas in an auditorium, or between two buildings.
2. An articulating bridge or ramp, such as from land to a dock or a ship.
3. A temporary passageway, such as one made of planks.
4. (rare, obsolete outside dialectal) A clear path through a crowd or a passageway with people.
5. (Britain) An aisle.
6. (nautical) A passage along either side of a ship's upper deck.
7. (nautical) A passage through the side of a ship or an opening in the railing through which the ship may be boarded.
8. (agricultural) An earthen and plank ramp leading from the stable yard into the upper storey or mow of a dairy barn.
9. (Chicago) The narrow space between two buildings or houses, used to access the backyard/alleyway from the front.

• (narrow space between two buildings): See Thesaurus:alley

• (enclosed corridor between an airport and plane): See jet bridge

• gangplank
• gangboard

gangway (third-person singular simple present gangways, present participle gangwaying, simple past and past participle gangwayed)

1. To serve as, furnish with, or conduct oneself as though proceeding on a gangway.
   • 2004, Bill Hillsman, Run the Other Way:

     He gangwayed his way through the crowd, and just as the clock struck midnight, he was standing in front of NBC's camera on national TV as the governor-elect of Minnesota and the first Reform Party candidate ever to be elected to high office.

   • 2014, Jude Cook, Byron Easy:

     They're conducting phone conversations without speaking into the wrong end of their mobiles, or gangwaying to the Gents without tripping over, or turning the pages of a newspaper without blacking adjacent eyes.

   • 2014, Kevin McAleer, Dueling: The Cult of Honor in Fin-de-Siecle Germany:

     Here also of exceptional value were the half-dozen dueling codes published after 1880, gangwaying a detailed analysis in chapter II of the manner in which duels unfolded, and dozens of French sources which formed the core of a chapter on the French duel.

gangway

1. (to a crowd) Make way! Clear a path!
   • 1934, P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins, p 157:

     And he pushed his way through the crowd crying, "Gangway, gangway!" and dragging Jane and Michael after him.