chain gang en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Meanings
-
A group of convicts chained together to work outside the confines of a prison.
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: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:
- A group of cyclists riding in a close-knit formation akin to a road race, normally for the purposes of training.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| chain-gang | alternative | lexicographic | |
| chain gangs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (2)
fi ryhmäajo (a group of cyclists riding in a close-knit formation) · fi ryhmä kahlevankeja (a group of convicts chained together)