n. 1
A group of people together A set of individuals lumped together by the speaker.
n. 2
A group of people together A hip-hop or b-boying group.
n. 3
A group of people together A group of people (often staff) manning and operating a large facility or piece of equipment such as a factory, ship, boat, airplane, or spacecraft.
If you need help, please contact a member of the crew.
n. 4
A group of people together A group of people working together on a task.
The crews competed to cut the most timber.

Related words

Word family: crewless crewman crewmate crewperson crewer
Phrases: crew cut crew cab motley crew air crew crew neck cabin crew film crew movie crew

Forms

Plural: crews → gangs, crowds, bunches, squads…

Choose the right word

Crew, Gang or Combinations?

A gang is a company of workmen all doing the same work under one leader; the word is used figuratively only of combinations which it is meant to stigmatize as rude and mercenary; crew is used in a closely similar sense.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

squad Martha was the captain of the cheerleading squad.
gang A gang of three robbed the bank in broad daylight.
flock The hunter aimed a shotgun at the flock of birds.
member He failed to become a cabinet member at that time.
staff The monthly staff meeting is never held on Monday.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
crew		rising
squad		rising
gang		rising
flock		steady
member		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: set¹, lot¹, mob¹, pac¹
4 letters: team¹, band¹, pack¹, gang¹, knot¹
5 letters: group¹, party², staff¹, crowd¹, squad¹, bunch¹, troop¹, flock¹, posse², cabal²
6 letters: member², seaman², clique¹, crewer
7 letters: company³
10 letters: complement³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (party² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: équipage
Italiano: equipaggio
Deutsch: Besatzung
Català: equipatge