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Glite Dictionary
youth gang

youth gang

1 4.2
A group of young people who do crimes or cause trouble
  • noun
  • /juːθ ɡæŋ/
translation icon : pandilla juvenil
  • The community organized a seminar to address the rising influence of youth gangs in the neighborhood.
  • youth gang members
  • youth gang problem

Examples

  • And in the local news, six youth gang members were killed in a shoot-out last night with police in South Los Angeles.

    Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

  • An effective approach to youth gang problems was developed in Philadelphia during the early 1970s.

    Academic text (1997)

  • In some cities, the areas around these schools were beginning to fall under the control of the violent youth gangs.

    Class of 1999 (1990)

  • The Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project in Chicago represents an interorganizational and community approach to the youth gang problem in its most violent form.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Youth gang crime and delinquency are major social problems that are no longer confined to inner-city areas.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The frequent predations of thieves, youth gangs, and corrupt police officials additionally threaten the security and stability of local lives.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Police reported that several youth gang members were arrested after a major drug bust in the city.

  • Youth gangs often recruit new members from local schools, looking for vulnerable teenagers to join.

Synonyms

gang
vsyouth gang
832 2.8

A group of people who commit crimes together

is mainly made up of teenagers and may act antisocially rather than always criminally

How Large

youth gang
1 4.2

Surface Forms

youth gang singular
youth gangs plural

Morphology

youth + gang

The meaning is directly compositional: 'youth' = young people and 'gang' = a group often involved in illegal or antisocial activity, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer a group of young people involved in such behavior. This noun+noun combination follows a common, cross-linguistic compounding pattern and therefore is immediately understandable.

Etymology

Youth gang comes from the simple idea of youth, meaning young people, plus gang, meaning a group who spend time together. Imagine a band of teenagers who hang out on the same street corner and sometimes get into trouble. That picture explains why the phrase means 'a group of young people who may commit crimes'.