I. ˈpress-gang 1 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . press-gang somebody into doing something informal to force someone to do something:
I don’t want to press-gang you into doing something you’re not happy with.
2 . to force men to work on a ship, by taking them from the streets – done in the past
II. press-gang 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
a group of people in the past who took young men away using force in order to make them come to work on a ship