cangue (k?ng)n. A flat wooden framework that is locked around a person’s neck and borne on the shoulders, formerly used in China to punish petty criminals.[French, from Portuguese canga, yoke, cangue, perhaps of Celtic origin; akin to Welsh cam, crooked.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.cangue (kæ?) or cangn (Historical Terms) (formerly in China) a large wooden collar worn by petty criminals as a punishment[C18: from French, from Portuguese canga yoke]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014