From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
gangway
n 1: a temporary passageway of planks (as over mud on a building
site)
2: a temporary bridge for getting on and off a vessel at
dockside [syn: gangplank, gangboard]
3: passageway between seating areas as in an auditorium or
passenger vehicle or between areas of shelves of goods as
in stores [syn: aisle]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gangway \Gang"way`\, n. [See Gang, v. i.]
1. A passage or way into or out of any inclosed place; esp.,
a temporary way of access formed of planks.
[1913 Webster]
2. In the English House of Commons, a narrow aisle across the
house, below which sit those who do not vote steadly
either with the government or with the opposition.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) The opening through the bulwarks of a vessel by
which persons enter or leave it.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Naut.) That part of the spar deck of a vessel on each
side of the booms, from the quarter-deck to the
forecastle; -- more properly termed the waist. --Totten.
[1913 Webster]
Gangway ladder, a ladder rigged on the side of a vessel at
the gangway.
To bring to the gangway, to punish (a seaman) by flogging
him at the gangway.
[1913 Webster]