gangland orig. U.S.
(ˈgæŋlænd)
[f. gang n.1 + land n.]
The domain of gangsters; the underworld; gangs or gangsters collectively. Also attrib.
| 1912 A. H. Lewis Apaches N.Y. 15 The first lesson of Gangland is never to inform nor give evidence. 1928 Daily Tel. 28 Aug. 7/5 A bomb, known in gangland parlance as a ‘pineapple’. 1932 E. Wallace When Gangs came to London viii. 64 Gangland does not talk scandal even of its worst enemies. 1966 Observer 25 Sept. 1/5 (headline) Police stop gangland carve-up. 1971 Daily Tel. 15 Sept. 1/1 Police believe a gangland killing may be connected with the discovery early yesterday of a bloodstained car at Chigwell, Essex. |