Plural of gangland; areas of a city controlled by or dominated by criminal gangs, especially associated with organized crime and violence.
Compound of 'gang' plus 'land,' first widely used in American English during Prohibition (1920s-1930s) to describe areas like Chicago where organized crime ruled.
The term 'gangland' became iconic during America's Prohibition era—newspapers used it to describe the violent turf wars of the 1920s, and it's been immortalized in crime fiction, movies, and TV shows ever since.
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