chain gang

a group of convicts chained together, especially when working outside.

Origin of chain gang

First recorded in 1825–35

Some of the largest farms in the South are operated by chain-gang labour.

Following the Color Line |Ray Stannard Baker
Never were sentries more completely taken by surprise than they guarding the chain-gang.

The Free Lances |Mayne Reid
In half an hour the chain-gang starts for the mines, and you are one of them.

The Slave of the Mine |Bracebridge Hemyng
He doesn't know me, but his face is familiar to me, for I have seen him several times at work; in the chain-gang, too.

There She Blows! |William Hussey Macy

The carrying of men and women to the chain-gang was a frequent occurrence.

Tuskegee & Its People: Their Ideals and Achievements |Various

chain gang

US a group of convicted prisoners chained together, usually while doing hard labour