gangway

Etymology

From Middle English gangway, from Old English gangweġ (“passageway; thoroughfare”), equivalent to gang + way. Related to Dutch gang (“hallway”) and Norwegian gang (“hallway”).

noun

1. A passageway through which to enter or leave, such as one between seating areas in an auditorium, or between two buildings.
2. An articulating bridge or ramp, such as from land to a dock or a ship.
   We came over on the usual mid-morning service from Victoria and this time, as we came down the gangway of the Invicta, the Shedmaster at Calais, M. Leclerc, and Henri Dutertre were waiting for us. 1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 150
   Like a lot of my fellow passengers — indie-rock fans who had signed up for a three-day voyage full of bands and beverages — I’d never been on a cruise before. So I don’t know whether most of them begin with a staff member high-fiving each and every person who comes off the gangway. 2012-03-30, Joe Levy, “Rockers at Sea”, in The New York Times
3. A temporary passageway, such as one made of planks.
4. (rare, obsolete outside dialects) A clear path through a crowd or a passageway with people.
5. (Britain) An aisle.
6. (nautical) A passage along either side of a ship's upper deck.
7. (nautical) A passage through the side of a ship or an opening in the railing through which the ship may be boarded.
8. (agriculture) An earthen and plank ramp leading from the stable yard into the upper storey or mow of a dairy barn.
9. (Chicago) The narrow space between two buildings or houses, used to access the backyard/alleyway from the front.
10. A passageway through a passenger car

verb

1. To serve as, furnish with, or conduct oneself as though proceeding on a gangway.
   He gangwayed his way through the crowd, and just as the clock struck midnight, he was standing in front of NBC's camera on national TV as the governor-elect of Minnesota and the first Reform Party candidate ever to be elected to high office. 2004, Bill Hillsman, Run the Other Way
   They're conducting phone conversations without speaking into the wrong end of their mobiles, or gangwaying to the Gents without tripping over, or turning the pages of a newspaper without blacking adjacent eyes. 2014, Jude Cook, Byron Easy
   Here also of exceptional value were the half-dozen dueling codes published after 1880, gangwaying a detailed analysis in chapter II of the manner in which duels unfolded, and dozens of French sources which formed the core of a chapter on the French duel. 2014, Kevin McAleer, Dueling: The Cult of Honor in Fin-de-Siecle Germany

intj

1. (to a crowd) Make way! Clear a path!
   And he pushed his way through the crowd crying, "Gangway, gangway!" and dragging Jane and Michael after him. 1934, P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins, page 157