rhizoverbBeta
DictionarygangPeople acting together
noun / verb

gang

GANG/ɡæŋ/

A group of people associating or joining together for a shared purpose.

The gang works together to steal from the display case.

Three coordinated burglars work together at a forced-open jewelry display: one pries the case, another transfers jewelry into a sack, and a third keeps lookout.
Etymology
gangOld Englishgoing, journey, passage

The “going” sense probably developed through sets of things taken together when going somewhere, then companies of workers. Bands of people traveling together supplied the bridge to the disapproving sense of a criminal group.

In context

Tanja Drunfen6:53
the creation of organized crime but it wasn't the Irish gang nor the Jewish mob that would ultimately rule it was the kosa norra better known as the Italian mafia
The Prohibition Years english documentary part 3

More examples

  • A gang of friends arrived for the picnic.
  • They ganged up to clear the overgrown lot.
  • Several gangs of workers repaired the track.

Forms

gang · gangs · ganged · ganging

Similar words

group
Any collection of people.
crew
People working together, often on a particular task.