gangs 1 of 2

noun

plural of gang
1
as in teams
a group of people working together on a task a gang of neighborhood residents spent the weekend cleaning up the park

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in cliques
a group of people sharing a common interest and relating together socially the whole gang went out for pizza the school's computer hackers had their own little gang

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in Mafias
a group involved in secret or criminal activities politicians promising to stop the growth of inner-city gangs

Synonyms & Similar Words

gangs

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of gang
as in groups

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gangs
Noun
Mexico Government Smuggling gasoline and diesel from the United States into Mexico and reselling it tax-free is a huge money-maker for organized crime gangs, including drug cartels. — CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026 Police spokesperson Garry Desrosiers took only a handful of questions from journalists at a news conference Thursday, just days after gangs attacked Kenscoff, a once-peaceful farming community nestled in the hills near Port-au-Prince. — ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026 The raid underscores gangs’ push to seize strategic mountain corridors around upscale Pétion-Ville, even as armed groups now control most of Port-au-Prince and nationwide killings, rapes and kidnappings surge. — Pierre-Richard Luxama, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026 Others are being drawn — sometimes forcibly — into Myanmar's civil war or toward Rohingya militant groups and criminal gangs, which rights advocates say operate with impunity. — Lorcan Lovett, NPR, 25 Aug. 2026 Once known as one of the safest places in the capital, the region has increasingly become a killing ground for armed gangs. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026 In 2024, Western intelligence officials started gathering evidence that gangs in Scandinavia were subcontracting local teen-agers to carry out Iranian directives. — Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2026 But the country’s kidnapping epidemic has been overwhelmingly felt by Haitians, with gangs notorious for taking victims from among even the very poor. — Etant Dupain, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 Those who live outside eke out a living in different areas run by train gangs. — Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangs
  1. teams
  2. cliques
  3. syndicates
  4. groups
  5. armies
  6. communities
  7. clans
  8. clubs
Noun
  • There remain a lot of games on that schedule against teams with far more talent.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The decision to leave off Camden Brown comes down to who can actually contribute on special teams.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of teams
Noun
  • So the players will get a day off to cool down but have to spend the night at the pub quiz in teams of Ted’s choosing, never mind the cliques.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Amid the crushes, cliques, and teenage angst, two sisters set out to define themselves on their own terms.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of cliques
Noun
  • Complex investigations to dismantle drug trafficking syndicates can require advanced equipment, Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokesperson for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, wrote in a statement.
    — Aneri Pattani — KFF Health News, STAT, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Informal mining is a deep problem in South Africa and is connected to criminal syndicates, according to authorities.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of syndicates
Verb
  • Because humans can readily resolve patterns in motion — when points move in the same direction, the brain groups them into a unified whole — the moving dots appear as faint letters.
    — Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
Definition of groups
Noun
  • Big Ridley commands armies of extras, builds enormous sets and deploys cutting-edge visual effects to create places that no longer exist — or never did.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • And because intelligence exists in isolated fragments across different systems, companies end up deploying armies of employees whose primary, manual job is just interpretation.
    — Filip Popovic, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of armies
Noun
  • Rescue teams and military helicopters searched Thursday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border, where a deadly torrent of water and mud several stories high swept through communities a day earlier following a glacier collapse.
    — Shristi Kafle, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Expand rural behavioral health crisis response, local treatment capacity, and patient and staff safety in communities facing service gaps, recent trauma, and provider shortages.
    — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of communities
Noun
  • All Palestinian clans and families in Gaza would also be a target for disarmament, which would have an impact on the future of Hamas and Palestinian armed struggle.
    — Mkhaimar Abusada, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Scores attach to a profile, clans compete by country, challenges travel between friends.
    — Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of clans
Verb
  • That advantage was in large part offset by payments from UEFA’s ‘value pillar’, a mechanism which awards clubs money based upon their coefficient ranking (determined by past performance in European competition) and the size of their nation’s broadcast rights deal for the competition.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 30 May 2026
  • Their top-30 visits, where NFL clubs host prospects at their facilities to gather further intel, are often smokescreens.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026
Definition of clubs

Browse Nearby Words

gangrenous
gangs
gangsta
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Cite this Entry

“Gangs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangs. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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