Meaning & use
ganger
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Meaning
nouncountable
A worker who leads and directs a small group of laborers, especially on roads, railways, or building sites.
Grammar: Countable: a ganger, two gangers. Often followed by 'on' or 'for' to name the site or employer.
Patterns
- a ganger on a building site
- work as a ganger
- the ganger told us to...
The ganger checked that everyone had their safety helmets on before the shift began.
He worked as a ganger on the new railway line for three years.
When the ganger shouted, the whole crew stopped what they were doing.
Word forms
| plural | gangers |
|---|
Common combinations
- railway ganger
- The railway ganger inspected the track after the storm.
- ganger on site
- As ganger on site, she was responsible for a team of twelve.
- experienced ganger
- They hired an experienced ganger to manage the roadworks.
- ganger's job
- The ganger's job is to keep the crew working safely and on time.
Synonyms and how they differ
- foreman
- The general word for a worker in charge of a group; 'ganger' is more specific to manual labor gangs and is chiefly British.
- supervisor
- A broader term for anyone who oversees work; a ganger is a type of supervisor, usually on a construction or maintenance site.
- crew leader
- Common in American English; it means roughly the same but is not restricted to manual labor.
Word family
- gang noun
- A group of workers who do physical work together, such as a road gang.
Commonly confused: ganger or gangster?
ganger vs gangster
A gangster is a member of a criminal gang, not a workplace leader; the words sound similar but have very different meanings.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'ganger' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A ganger is a foreman who supervises laborers, especially on roads or building sites, so option 1 fits. Option 0 describes a gangster, option 2 is not a typical workplace for a ganger, and option 3 uses 'ganger' as if it were a tool, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ganger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.