Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an opium pipe; thus the dimin. gongerine, a small pipe; up against the gonger, addicted to opium.

1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 38: gonger [...] Current amongst opium smokers and drug fiends. An opium pipe. Also used in the diminutive form of ‘gongerine.’.
1933		D. Maurer ‘Junker Lingo’ in AS VIII:2 27: The pipe through which most addicts get the effect of opium is a gong, a gonger, or a stem.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 84/1: Gonger. An opium pipe. [...] Gonger, on the. Addicted to smoking the opium pipe. [Ibid.] 231/2: ‘Up against the gonger’ — addicted to the opium pipe; ‘up against the h’ — addicted to heroin; and the like.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 801: gonger — An opium pipe; an opium addict.

2. an opium addict.

1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.

3. opium.

1959

J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.

4. any form of opium derivative.

1938

D. Maurer ‘Lang. of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 2 in Lang. Und. (1981) 103/1: gonger. Any opium derivatives.