rogues' gallery

noun

a collection of portraits of criminals and suspects maintained by the police for purposes of identification.

rogues' gallery

noun

a collection of photographs of known criminals kept by the police for identification purposes
a group of undesirable people

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Word History and Origins

Origin of rogues' gallery¹

First recorded in 1855–60

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Idioms and Phrases

A police collection of pictures of criminals and suspects kept for identification purposes. For example, The detective went through the entire rogues' gallery but couldn't find a match with the suspect . [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

He does not recognize any of the Rogues Gallery portraits as that of the man from whom he received the goods.

From Project Gutenberg

Itd be so nice if you were a criminal and had your picture in the rogues gallery.

From Project Gutenberg

I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didnt drink with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues gallery.

From Project Gutenberg

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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