Gangway is a temporary bridge or walkway that connects a ship to the dock, allowing people to walk on and off safely. When a cruise ship arrives at port, crew members lower the gangway so passengers can step from the ship onto solid ground. Without it, there would be a dangerous gap between the ship and the pier, especially since ships rise and fall slightly with the waves.

On ships, any corridor or passage between decks might be called a gangway. You might hear a ship's captain announce, “The gangway is now open,” meaning passengers are free to disembark.

Gangway! is also what people shout when they need others to move out of the way quickly, like “Make way!” or “Coming through!” If someone rushes down a crowded hallway yelling Gangway!, they're asking people to clear a path. This usage comes from those narrow ship corridors where crew members needed to pass through urgently. While it sounds a bit old-fashioned today, you still hear it in movies about ships, trains, or anywhere people need to move through a crowd in a hurry.