gang

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an association of criminals

   police tried to break up the gang

2. 2
   verb

   To go; walk; proceed.

   (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.)

3. 3
   noun

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

   the Gashouse Gang

4. 4
   noun

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

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

5. 5
   noun

   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. 6
   noun

   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. 7
   noun

   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.

8. 8
   noun

   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; a gang drill; gang milling.

Etymology

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 Etymology 2, which see below.