Rogues' gallery

Rogues' gallery
Rogue Rogue, n. [F. rogue proud, haughty, supercilious; cf. Icel. hr?kr a rook, croaker (cf. {Rook} a bird), or Armor. rok, rog, proud, arogant.] 1. (Eng.Law) A vagrant; an idle, sturdy beggar; a vagabond; a tramp. [1913 Webster]

Note: The phrase rogues and vagabonds is applied to a large class of wandering, disorderly, or dissolute persons. They were formerly punished by being whipped and having the gristle of the right ear bored with a hot iron. [1913 Webster]

2. A deliberately dishonest person; a knave; a cheat. [1913 Webster]

The rogue and fool by fits is fair and wise. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

3. One who is pleasantly mischievous or frolicsome; hence, often used as a term of endearment. [1913 Webster]

Ah, you sweet little rogue, you! --Shak. [1913 Webster]

4. An elephant that has separated from a herd and roams about alone, in which state it is very savage. [1913 Webster]

5. (Hort.) A worthless plant occuring among seedlings of some choice variety. [1913 Webster]

{Rogues' gallery}, a collection of portraits of rogues or criminals, for the use of the police authorities.

{Rogue's march}, derisive music performed in driving away a person under popular indignation or official sentence, as when a soldier is drummed out of a regiment.

{Rogue's yarn}, yarn of a different twist and color from the rest, inserted into the cordage of the British navy, to identify it if stolen, or for the purpose of tracing the maker in case of defect. Different makers are required to use yarns of different colors. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • rogues'gallery — (rōgz) n. A collection of pictures of known and suspected criminals maintained in police files and used for making identifications. * * * …   Universalium

  • rogues' gallery — noun count 1. ) OLD FASHIONED a set of photographs of criminals kept by the police 2. ) HUMOROUS a group of bad people …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • rogues' gallery — ► NOUN informal ▪ a collection of photographs of known criminals, used by police to identify suspects …   English terms dictionary

  • rogues' gallery — ☆ rogues gallery n. a collection of the photographs of criminals, as used by police in identification …   English World dictionary

  • rogues' gallery — 1) N SING: oft N of n A rogues gallery is a collection of photographs of criminals that is kept by the police and used when they want to identify someone. [JOURNALISM] ...a Rogues Gallery of juvenile crime gangs. 2) N SING: oft N of n… …   English dictionary

  • rogues' gallery — noun 1. : a collection of portraits of criminals the rogues gallery in the post office 2. : a collection resembling a collection of portraits of criminals this interesting rogues gallery of the insect world includes detailed snapshots of a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Rogues gallery — Not to be confused with Peanut gallery. For other uses, see Rogues gallery (disambiguation). A rogues gallery (or rogues gallery) is a police collection of pictures or photographs of criminals and suspects kept for identification purposes. The… …   Wikipedia

  • rogues' gallery — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms rogues gallery : singular rogues gallery plural rogues galleries old fashioned a set of photographs of criminals kept by the police …   English dictionary

  • rogues' gallery — noun Date: 1859 a collection of pictures of persons arrested as criminals; also a collection or list likened to a rogues gallery < a rogues gallery of infectious diseases > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • rogues' gallery — noun a) A set of pictures of convicted or suspected criminals used in law enforcement investigations to help witnesses identify suspects. When the policemen arrest a man . . . if there is good reason to suspect him, they take his picture before… …   Wiktionary

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