Gang Meaning

/ˈɡæŋ/
B1

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Listen pronunciation

verbTo go; walk; proceed.

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

The gangsters let him in on their plan to knock off a rival gang leader.
You must steer clear of that gang.
A gang of three robbed the bank in broad daylight.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of thieves broke into the bank last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local ____ was responsible for several incidents of vandalism and graffiti in the neighborhood.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰengʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *ganganą Proto-West Germanic *gangan Old English gangan Middle English gangen English gang 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”), Norwegian Nynorsk ganga (“to walk, go”), Vedic Sanskrit जंहस् (jáṃhas). Ultimately related to etymology 2, which see below.

"(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."" — 1828, James Hogg, Mary Burnet:
"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:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of thieves broke into the bank last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local ____ was responsible for several incidents of vandalism and graffiti in the neighborhood.

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