A gang is an organized group of people who work together, but the word has different meanings depending on the context.

Most commonly today, a gang is a group of people who cooperate in illegal activities like theft or vandalism. Some gangs try to control certain neighborhoods and use intimidation to get what they want. These gangs cause real harm to communities, making people feel unsafe and damaging property. Police work to stop gang activity and protect neighborhoods.

But gang has other meanings too. A gang can simply mean any group of people working together on a task. Construction workers might form a work gang to build a road. A chain gang historically referred to prisoners working together. When friends jokingly say “the whole gang's here,” they just mean their group of friends has gathered.

The phrase gang up on someone means multiple people unfairly target one person, like when several students team up to exclude or pick on a classmate.

When you hear the word gang, pay attention to context. It might refer to criminals, a work crew, or just a casual group of people.