gong n.4
the bell (later replaced by a siren) on a police car or similar vehicle; also attrib.; thus gong beater, the mechanism that produces the sound.
Prisoner at the Bar 106: They bundle Maria unceremoniously inside, escort her erstwhile employer [...] into the same vehicle, [...] the gong rings: and Mr. Appleboy starts upon his task of bringing an evil-doer to justice. | ||
Babbitt (1974) 174: A Black Maria – gong beating like a terrified heart. | ||
Put on the Spot 4: A few yards behind, its gong beater banging, sped the patrol wagon. | ||
You’re in the Racket, Too 129: Will [the police] be coming in a car with a syren like they do in the pictures [...] Of course, they only have those silly gongs in this country. | ||
None But the Lonely Heart 284: ‘It’s a gong job, I tell you,’ Taz says [...] right behind them, the queer, weak, ringing of a police car. | ||
Kingsblood Royal (2001) 320: The gong was heard, the patrol wagon pushed politely through the retreating crowd. |
In phrases
(US) to interfere.
Nebraska State Jrnl (Lincoln, NE) 14 June 9/4: It’s very rare that I gong in like that for I’m here to sell goods and not to keep patients out of the tizzy-wizzy wards. |