Word.ws English Dictionary

press-ganging

press-ganging is the present participle and gerund of press-gang.

Meaning of press-gang

Verb

press-gang (third-person singular simple present press-gangs, present participle press-ganging, simple past and past participle press-ganged)

  1. (transitive) To force (someone) into military or naval service.
    Synonyms:
    shanghai
  2. (transitive) To coerce (somebody) into doing something that they are reluctant to do.

See all 3 meanings of press-gang

Questions about press-ganging

What is press-ganging the present participle and gerund of?
Press-ganging is the present participle and gerund of press-gang.

Words near press-ganging in the dictionary

  1. press'd
  2. press-cake
  3. press-cakes
  4. press-gang
  5. press-ganged
  6. press-ganging
  7. press-gangs
  8. press-on
  9. press-to-talk
  10. press-to-transmit
  11. press-up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: press-ganging (page history and authors); press-gang (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “press-ganging.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/press-ganging. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.