gang

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   An organized group of people who work together, usually to commit crimes or cause trouble.

   Grammar: Can take a singular or plural verb in British English: the gang is/are known to police.

   Patterns

   • a gang of something
   • join a gang

   Police arrested members of a gang that had been stealing cars.

   Teenagers in the neighborhood were pressured to join a gang.

   The gang carried out several robberies across the state.

2. 2nouncountableinformal

   A group of friends who spend time together regularly.

   Grammar: Informal and friendly in tone, unlike the criminal sense.

   Patterns

   • the gang
   • the whole gang

   The whole gang is coming to my birthday party.

   I met up with the old gang from school.

   Come on, gang, it's time to go.

3. 3nouncountableold-fashioned

   A team of workers who do manual jobs together under a leader, especially on roads or construction.

   Grammar: Often linked to a trade, as in a road gang.

   Patterns

   • a gang of workers

   A gang of laborers repaired the railway.

   The foreman led a gang of ten men along the highway.

   A road gang filled the potholes before winter.

4. 4verbphrasal verbinformal

   To join together as a group against one person.

   Grammar: Used as gang up on: the verb gang almost never appears alone.

   Patterns

   • gang up on someone
   • gang up against someone

   The older kids ganged up on him at lunch.

   Don't gang up on your sister just because she is younger.

   The two teams ganged up on the leaders in the last lap.

Word forms

Common combinations

street gang

A street gang had marked the wall with its tag.

gang member

A former gang member now works with local teenagers.

gang violence

The city has tried new programs to reduce gang violence.

gang up on

The siblings sometimes gang up on their parents.

the whole gang

The whole gang turned up to see the match.

a gang of thieves

A gang of thieves broke into the warehouse overnight.

Synonyms and how they differ

mob

A mob is a large disorderly crowd, often angry, while a gang is smaller and organized.

crew

Crew is a team that works together, and is neutral or positive, while gang often suggests crime.

clique

A clique is a closed circle of friends that excludes others, so it is a social term, not a criminal one.

band

Band can be a group of any kind of people, and for outlaws sounds more old-fashioned than gang.

Opposites

Word family

gangster noun

a member of a criminal gang

gangland noun

the world of organized criminal gangs

gangbanger noun

an informal American word for a street-gang member

gang-related adjective

connected with the activities of a criminal gang

Commonly confused: gang or gangly?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “gang”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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