Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Gang
Gang
(găng)
, Verb.
I.
[AS.
gangan
, akin to OS. & OHG. gangan
, Icel. ganga
, Goth. gaggan
; cf. Lith. żengti
to walk, Skr. jaṅgha
leg. √48. Cf. Go
.] To go; to walk.
☞ Obsolete in English literature, but still used in the North of England, and also in Scotland.
Gang
,Noun.
[Icel. ]
gangr
a going, gang, akin to AS., D., G., & Dan. gang
a going, Goth. gaggs
street, way. See Gang
, Verb.
I.
1.
A going; a course.
[Obs.]
2.
A number going in company; hence, a company, or a number of persons associated for a particular purpose; a group of laborers under one foreman; a squad;
as, a
gang
of sailors; a chain gang
; a gang
of thieves.3.
A combination of similar implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set;
as, a
. gang
of saws, or of plows4.
(Naut.)
A set; all required for an outfit;
as, a new
. gang
of stays5.
[Cf.
Gangue
.] (Mining)
The mineral substance which incloses a vein; a matrix; a gangue.
Gang board
, or Gang plank
(Naut.)
(a)
A board or plank, with cleats for steps, forming a bridge by which to enter or leave a vessel.
(b)
A plank within or without the bulwarks of a vessel’s waist, for the sentinel to walk on.
– Gang cask
, a small cask in which to bring water aboard ships or in which it is kept on deck.
– Gang cultivator
, Gang plow
a cultivator or plow in which several shares are attached to one frame, so as to make two or more furrows at the same time.
– Gang days
, Rogation days; the time of perambulating parishes. See
– Gang week
(below). Gang drill
, a drilling machine having a number of drills driven from a common shaft.
– Gang master
, a master or employer of a gang of workmen.
– Gang plank
. See
– Gang board
(above). Gang plow
. See
– Gang cultivator
(above). Gang press
, a press for operating upon a pile or row of objects separated by intervening plates.
– Gang saw
, a saw fitted to be one of a combination or gang of saws hung together in a frame or sash, and set at fixed distances apart.
– Gang tide
. See
– Gang week
(below). Gang tooth
, a projecting tooth.
[Obs.]
Halliwell.
– Gang week
, Rogation week, when formerly processions were made to survey the bounds of parishes.
Halliwell.
– Live gang
, or Round gang
the Western and the Eastern names, respectively, for a gang of saws for cutting the round log into boards at one operation.
Knight.
– Slabbing gang
, an arrangement of saws which cuts slabs from two sides of a log, leaving the middle part as a thick beam.
Webster 1828 Edition
Gang
GANG
,Verb.
I.
GANG
,Noun.
1.
Properly, a going; hence, a number of going in company; hence, a company, or a number of persons associated for a particular purpose; as a gang of thieves.2.
In seamen's language, a select number of a ship's crew appointed on a particular service, under a suitable officer.3.
In mining, literally a course or vein, but appropriately the earthy, stony, saline or combustible substance which contains the ore of metals, or is only mingled with it, without being chemically combined. This is called the gang or matrix of the ore. It differs from a mineralizer, in not being combined with the metal. [ This word, in the latter sense, is most unwarrantably and erroneously written gangue.]