gang up

verb

ganged up; ganging up; gangs up

intransitive verb

1

: to make a joint assault

ganged up on him and beat him up

2

: to combine for a specific purpose

ganged up to raise prices

3

: to exert group pressure

ganged up against the boss

Examples of gang up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So, even though Laurie drops the bombshell that Jaclyn hooked up with Kate’s husband, Laurie’s gal pals gang up on her. —Judy Berman, Time, 31 Mar. 2025

Europe, now fervently on the path of severing ties with the USA, could gang up with the above nations plus Japan, China and few more key Arab countries to replace our mighty U.S. dollar as the international reserve currency. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 14 Mar. 2025

If Lozano can’t play, opponents will gang up on Dreyer, who indeed saw tighter coverage Saturday night after his fellow wing exited. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025

There was a gang up against the deal stoked by pols like freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, even though the Amazon site wasn’t in her district. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 14 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gang up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

gang up

verb

: to join together for an often hostile purpose

ganged up on their little brother