What is "crips"

Gang \Gang\, n. [Icel. gangr a going, gang, akin to AS., D., G., & Dan. gang a going, Goth. gaggs street, way. See Gang, v. i.]

1. A going; a course. [Obs.]

2. A number going in company; hence, a company, or a number of persons associated for a particular purpose; a group of laborers under one foreman; a squad; as, a gang of sailors; a chain gang; a gang of thieves.

3. A combination of similar implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set; as, a gang of saws, or of plows.

4. (Naut.) A set; all required for an outfit; as, a new gang of stays.

5. [Cf. Gangue.] (Mining) The mineral substance which incloses a vein; a matrix; a gangue.

6. A group of teenagers or young adults forming a more or less formalized group associating for social purposes, in some cases requiring initiation rites to join; as, a teen gang; a youth gang; a street gang.

   Note: Youth gangs often associate with particular areas in a city, and may turn violent when they feel their territory is encroached upon. In Los Angeles the Crips and the Bloods are large gangs antagonistic to each other.

7. A group of persons organized for criminal purposes; a criminal organization; as, the Parker gang. Gang board, or Gang plank. (Naut.)

   1. A board or plank, with cleats for steps, forming a bridge by which to enter or leave a vessel.

   2. A plank within or without the bulwarks of a vessel's waist, for the sentinel to walk on.

      Gang cask, a small cask in which to bring water aboard ships or in which it is kept on deck.

      Gang cultivator, Gang plow, a cultivator or plow in which several shares are attached to one frame, so as to make two or more furrows at the same time.

      Gang days, Rogation days; the time of perambulating parishes. See Gang week (below).

      Gang drill, a drilling machine having a number of drills driven from a common shaft.

      Gang master, a master or employer of a gang of workmen.

      Gang plank. See Gang board (above).

      Gang plow. See Gang cultivator (above).

      Gang press, a press for operating upon a pile or row of objects separated by intervening plates.

      Gang saw, a saw fitted to be one of a combination or gang of saws hung together in a frame or sash, and set at fixed distances apart.

      Gang tide. See Gang week (below).

      Gang tooth, a projecting tooth. [Obs.]
      --Halliwell.

      Gang week, Rogation week, when formerly processions were made to survey the bounds of parishes.
      --Halliwell.

      Live gang, or Round gang, the Western and the Eastern names, respectively, for a gang of saws for cutting the round log into boards at one operation.
      --Knight.

      Slabbing gang, an arrangement of saws which cuts slabs from two sides of a log, leaving the middle part as a thick beam.

n. (Crip English)

The Crips are a primarily African-American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams. What was once a single alliance between two autonomous gangs is now a loosely connected network of individual sets, often engaged in open warfare with one another. Its members traditionally wear blue clothing, a practice that has waned somewhat due to police crackdowns on gang members.

The Crips are one of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States, with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 members. It has been involved in murders, robberies and drug dealing, among other crimes.

Crips have a long and bitter rivalry with the Bloods. Crips have served in the United States armed forces and on bases in the United States and abroad.