ganger

gang·er
G2A1N1G2E1R1
UK/ˈɡæŋə/US/ˈɡæŋɚ//ˈɡeɪ̯ŋɚ//ˈɡɛ̃ŋɚ/

noun

One who or that which walks or goes; a goer; a walker.

UncommonScrabble 8

Meanings

ganger1

nounganger (plural gangers)

plural gangers

  1. ScotlandOne who or that which walks or goes; a goer; a walker.
  2. A horse that goes quickly.
  3. businessOne who oversees a gang of workmen.

    'My dad was a railway ganger.'

    1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 159
    3 more examples

    I was sent out to a little village called Wee-Wee-Rup where the ganger, Dinny Kelly, gave me an order on the store to get a tent and blankets[.]

    1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 28

    Primary responsibility must rest with a ganger. He failed to appreciate the danger of disturbing the track, short of ballast, on a very hot day.

    1950 March, “Notes and News: Merstham Quarry Derailment”, in Railway Magazine, page 210

    The length ganger saw the train passing with the van derailed and promptly telephoned the Sandbach signalman, who restored his signals to danger, but not in time to stop the train before the final derailment occurred.

    1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 652
  4. coal miningOne who is employed in conveying the coal through the gangways.
  5. nauticalA length of chain, one end of which is fastened to an anchor when let go, when the other end is fastened to a hawser.

Ganger2

proper nounGanger (plural Gangers)

plural Gangers

Origin

  1. Old Englishgangere“a ganger, footman”
  2. Middle Englishganger
  3. Englishganger

From Middle English ganger, from Old English gangere (“a ganger, footman”), equivalent to gang + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gunger, West Frisian gonger, Dutch ganger, German Gänger, Danish gjænger, ganger, Swedish gängare, Icelandic gangari.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ganger

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

ganger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ganger

MLA

“ganger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ganger. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ganger,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ganger.

Source: ganger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.