gang

(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.)

1772, Richard Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover. A Comedy., act III:

"And am I to meet my Mary at Moffat? Come away, little, dear, welcome body, thou blessed of heaven, come away, and taste of an auld shepherd's best cheer, and I'll gang foot for foot with you to Moffat, and my auld wife shall gang foot for foot with us too. I tell you, little, blessed, and welcome crile, come along with me."

(intransitive, Northern England, Scotland) To go; walk; proceed.

en-verb

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

gangs (present singular third-person)
ganging (participle present)
ganged (participle past)
ganged (past)

From Middle English gangen, from Old English gangan (“to go, walk, turn out”), from Proto-West Germanic *gangan, 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

the Gashouse Gang

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

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

a gang of sailors; a railroad gang; a labor gang or pool.

A group of laborers under one foreman; a squad or workgang.

a youth gang; a neighborhood gang; motorcycle gang.

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

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

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

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.

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

a gang of saws; a gang of plows; a gang drill; gang milling.

A combination of similar tools or implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set.

a new gang of stays.

an outlet gang box; a double gang switch.

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

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.

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

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

1840, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Woodnotes I.3:

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

1869, “Papa André”, in Once a Week, page 418/1:

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

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

(now chiefly dialectal) A going, journey; a course, path, track.

Þaða he to gange com.

c. 1000, Aelfric, Homilies, Vol. I, page 290

(obsolete) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.

(African-American Vernacular, used in the vocative) A term of address for a group, particularly when cautioning them or offering advice.

→ Cebuano: gang

→ Danish: gæng

→ Dutch: gang

→ Hindi: गैंग (gaiṅg)

→ Japanese: ギャング (gyangu)

→ Malay: geng

→ Norman: dgaîngue

→ Norwegian:

Norwegian Bokmål: gjeng

Norwegian Nynorsk: gjeng

→ Portuguese: gangue

→ Spanish: gang

→ Swedish: gäng

→ Finnish: jengi

→ Tagalog: gang

→ Thai: แก๊ง (gɛ́ng)

bandë

group of criminals who band together for mutual protection

grupo

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

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


gang

Volume controls may be ganged to mode switches to provide maximum output […]

1981, Human Engineering Design Criteria for Military Systems, United States. Department of Defense, page 58:

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

1999 May, Rosario Capotosto, “Building a Bookcase”, in Popular Mechanics:

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.

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

(transitive) To attach similar items together to form a larger unit.


gang

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling


gang

He still liked the idea of them all ganging her [...]

1970, Richard Allen, Skinhead, New Eng. Lib., →ISBN, page 104; republished as Skinhead, Dean Street Press, 2015, →ISBN:

[…] I’ve learned over the years that there's a thin line to tread to avoid fights or getting “ganged” when rejecting the sexual overtures of incarcerated women.

Alarid, Leanne Fiftal (2000) “Sexual Assault and Coercion Among Incarcerated Women Prisoners: Excerpts From Prison Letters”, in The Prison Journal, volume 80, number 4, →DOI


gang

en-noun

gang (countable and uncountable, plural gangs)