chain gang

noun

A group of convicts chained together to work outside the confines of a prison.

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Meanings

nounchain gang (plural chain gangs)

plural chain gangs · alternative chain-gang

  1. A group of convicts chained together to work outside the confines of a prison.

    My idea was to let that chain-gang get out of sight before I climbed the hill.

    1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 205
    1 more example

    I am presently donating my time and energies unwillingly to the Florida Dept. of 'Corrections', a modern institution on the surface, but a southern style chain-gang below.

    1983 December 24, David Leon Barth, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 20
  2. cyclingA group of cyclists riding in a close-knit formation akin to a road race, normally for the purposes of training.

Translations

Finnish ryhmä kahlevankeja, ryhmäajo
  • ryhmä kahlevankejaa group of convicts chained together
  • ryhmäajoa group of cyclists riding in a close-knit formation
Cite this entry
APA

chain gang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20gang

MLA

“chain gang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20gang. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chain gang,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chain%20gang.

Source: chain gang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.