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gang

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

gang
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡæŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city.

  2. A group of criminals or alleged criminals who band together for mutual protection and profit.

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

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

  5. A group of politicians united in furtherance of a political goal.

  6. An association of criminals

    “Police tried to break up the gang.”

verb

  1. transitive

    To attach similar items together to form a larger unit.

  2. Pronunciation spelling of gan.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features, often associated with a particular section of a city.

Used this way, gang is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Slightly negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Critical or judgemental
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • mob , used mainly in Regional English

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use gang

  • “Police tried to break up the gang.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Criminal / number

gang memberwhole gang

Other combinations

chain ganggang leadergang rapepress gangyouth ganggang violence

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • gang upverbCompound term

    Act as an organized group.

  • gang-rapeverbCompound term

    Rape (someone) successively with several attackers.

  • gang fightnounCompound term

    A fight between rival gangs of adolescents.

  • pentagon gangnounCompound term

    A Filipino terrorist group that broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2001 in order to continue terrorism and kidnapping and extortion.

  • press gangnounCompound term

    A detachment empowered to force civilians to serve in the army or navy.

  • road gangnounCompound term

    A gang of road workers.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • gangsternounRelated term

    A criminal who is a member of gang.

  • gangstanounRelated term

    A member of a youth gang.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: criminal group with a common cultural background and identifying features

packmobRegional

verb

Sense: to attach similar items together to form a larger unit

pack

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.