rogues' gallery


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

Origin of rogues' gallery

1
First recorded in 1855–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rogues' gallery in a sentence

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

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

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  • 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.

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British Dictionary definitions for rogues' gallery

rogues' gallery

noun
  1. a collection of photographs of known criminals kept by the police for identification purposes

  2. a group of undesirable people

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with rogues' gallery

rogues' gallery

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]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.