▪ I. rogue, n.
(rəʊg)
Also 6 rog, rogge, rooge, 6–7 roog, roge, roag(e, roague.
[One of the numerous canting words introduced about the middle of the 16th cent. to designate the various kinds of beggars and vagabonds, and perhaps in some way related to roger n.1 There is no evidence of connexion with F. rogue arrogant.]
1. a. One belonging to a class of idle vagrants or vagabonds. Now arch. as a legal term.
For the legal definition, see the Act 14 Eliz. c. 5 §5.
| α 1561 [see b]. 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 36 A Roge is neither so stoute or hardy as the vpright man. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. 56 Both jeasters, Roges and Minstrels with their instruments are heare. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Ded. 8 Some of them bare legged, or bare footed like roges. Ibid. 11 b, The very scomme, theeues, and roges of England. |
| β 1577 Bullinger's Decades (1592) 129 The sturdie roag vnworthie of an almes. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Sabrina x, The rascall rude, the roag, the clubfist griepte My sclender arme. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 153 These lewd miscreants run like roagues naked and sauage throughout all Africa. 1600 Breton Pasquil's Madcappe Wks. (Grosart) I. 6/1 He shall..in a iacket and a paire of broages Goe passe among the company of roages. |
| γ 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 187 Wildly to wander..Withouten pasport or good warrantye, For feare least we like rogues should be reputed. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vii. 39 And was't thou faine..To houell thee with Swine and Rogues forlorne, In short, and musty straw? a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 335 The anti-friarists maintaining, that such [begging friars] were rogues by the laws of God and man. 1731–8 Swift Pol. Conv. 62 Ay, a rich Rogue, two Shirts and a Rag. 1764 Burn Poor Laws 125 The vagrant acts of late years have distinguished the offenders into three kinds; ‘idle and disorderly persons, rogues and vagabonds, and incorrigible rogues’. 1824 Act 5 Geo. IV, c. 83 §8. 1838 Act 1 & 2 Vict. c. 38 (title), An Act to amend an Act for punishing idle and disorderly Persons and Rogues and Vagabonds. |
† b. wild rogue: (see
quots.).
Obs.| 1561 J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 5 A wilde Roge is he that hath no abiding place.., and all that be of hys corporation be properly called Roges. 1567 Harman Caveat (1869) 41 A wilde Roge is he that is borne a Roge: he is more subtil and more geuen by nature to all kinde of knauery than the other. 1608 Dekker Belman of London Wks. (Grosart) III. 97 The Tame Rogue begets a Wilde-Rogue. 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 70 Wild Rogues were formerly such who were begotten by very Rogues, such who had been burnt in the hand or shoulder, or..whipt at the Carts arse. |
2. a. A dishonest, unprincipled person; a rascal.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 143 Certayne deceytfull and naughtie rogues that would be taken for cunning physitions. 1592 Arden of Feversham ii. i. 5 Such a slaue, so vile a roge as he, Lyues not againe vppon the earth. 1605 First Pt. Jeronimo i. vi. 49 My Lord, he is the most notorious rogue That euer breathed. 1680 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 81 Those rogues have designes goeing on, but if the King will but put on a little rigour he may easyly quel them. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 53 It is a common saying, that you must set a rogue to catch a rogue. 1792 J. Almon Anecd. W. Pitt II. xxii. 28 The Duke of Newcastle said: Fox was rogue enough to do any thing, but..not fool enough to do this. 1814 Earl of Dudley Lett. (1840) 34 Talleyrand, to be sure, is a rogue; but he is a rogue of long experience. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. xii, He who is carried by horses must deal with rogues. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. li. (1889) I. 619 The newer frames of government are an improvement upon the older. Rogues are less audacious. |
| transf. 1904 M. Pemberton Red Morn xi, A rogue of a ship and a drunken man in charge of her. |
† b. Applied abusively to servants.
Obs.| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 150 Off with my boots, you rogues: you villaines, when?.. Out you rogue, you plucke my foot awrie. 1701 Cibber Love Makes Man ii. i, What, will none of my Rogues come near me now? O! here they are. [Enter several Servants.] 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 1. 8 My Lord, your Rogue has me safe here. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 415 Yet ev'n the rogue that serves him..Prefers his fellow-grooms. |
† c. (See
quot.)
Obs.| 1688 Holme Armoury III. xiv. (Roxb.) 2/1 He beareth sable, a chamber pot... There is nothing neuer so vsefull, but it may be abused, so is this when it is called..a Rogue with one eare. |
d. rogue and villain: rhyming slang for ‘shilling’.
| 1859 Hotten Dict. Slang 145 Rogue and villain, a shillin,—common pronunciation of shilling. 1877 J. W. Horsley Jottings from Jail i. 3 Come, cows and kisses, put the battle of the Nile on your Barnet Fair, and a rogue and villain in your sky-rocket. 1965 Australasian Post 4 Mar. 46 Shilling... Sometimes known in rhyming slang as a ‘rogue and villain’. 1973 B. Aylwin Load of Cockney Cobblers xiv. 62 Rogue & villain, shilling. |
3. One who is of a mischievous disposition.
Common as a playful term of reproof or reproach, and
freq. used as a term of endearment by 17th c. dramatists.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 233 Ah, you sweet little Rogue, you: alas, poore Ape. Ibid. 235 Ah Rogue, I loue thee. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. vi. 1025, I shall be his little rogue, and his white villaine for a whole week after. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal i. i, I, it's a pretty little rogue; she is my Mistress. I knew her face would set off Armor extreamly. a 1744 Pope Hor. Sat. i. vii. 27 What? rob your Boys? those pretty rogues! 1784 J. Potter Virtuous Villagers I. 161 It is evident, that sly rogue Cupid has pierced your heart with one of his keenest arrows. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmagundi (1824) 369 The very negroes, those holiday-loving rogues, gorgeously arrayed in cast off finery. 1832 L. Hunt Poems 185 Fondled by the ladies, With ‘What a young rogue this is!’ |
4. Hort. An inferior plant among seedlings.
| 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. i. (1860) 32 The seed-raisers..go over their seed-beds, and pull up the ‘rogues’, as they call the plants that deviate from the proper standard. 1868 ― Anim. & Pl. II. 31 If gardeners did not generally..pull up the false plants or ‘rogues’ as they are called. |
5. a. An elephant driven away, or living apart, from the herd, and of a savage or destructive disposition. Also
fig. A rendering of Sinhalese
hora,
sora = Skr. chōra thief.
| 1859 Tennent Ceylon II. viii. iii. 327 The outcasts from the herd, the ‘Rogues’ or hora allia;..there is not probably one rogue to be found for every five hundred of those in herds. 1885 H. O. Forbes E. Archipel. 164 We had at length the satisfaction of feeling that..no elephant, unless a rogue, would trample us down. 1886 P. Robinson Teetotum Trees 55 Killing a rogue..now falls into the same category as any other act of public justice. |
| attrib. 1859 All Year Round No. 32. 131 The rogue elephants haunt and destroy plantations. 1885 G. S. Forbes Wild Life in Canara 167 A friend of mine travelling..along this road had a very hazardous meeting with a rogue elephant. 1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Jan. 44/3 His role is that of the advocatus diaboli rather than the rogue elephant. 1978 K. Gregory First Cuckoo 21 The nation's rogue elephants rampage, shattering complacency and compelling many to an agonizing reappraisal. |
b. Any large wild animal of a similar character. Also
attrib. and
fig.| 1872 R. F. Burton Zanzibar II. 244 The ‘rogue’..is found amongst hippopotami, elk, deer and other gramnivors as well as amongst elephants, lions, tigers, and the larger carnivors. Ibid., The ‘rogue’ hippopotamus is an old male no longer able to hold his own against the young adults. 1892 Spectator 10 Sept. 349 The ferocity of the ‘rogue’ buffalo and ‘rogue’ hippopotamus. 1926 J. Masefield Odtaa x. 171 He roused up as a big, elderly rogue-bull of a man..came in. 1939 G. Household (title) Rogue male. 1977 N. Adam Triplehip Cracksman v. 56 I wasn't sure I liked myself..rogue male acting instinctively, obeying the territorial imperative. |
6. A horse which is inclined to shirk its work on the race-course or in the hunting field.
rogue's badge, a hood or blinkers put on a race-horse of this description.
| 1881 Standard 29 Aug. 5/3 Gentle breaking, on the other hand, may..prevent a racehorse from becoming a ‘rogue’ or a ‘savage’. 1884 Pall Mall G. 7 June 4/1 A description of a ‘rogue’ thoroughbred. Ibid., The ordinary ‘rogue’ has become fainthearted through punishment of whip and spur in race or trial. 1891 Lic. Vict. Gaz. (Farmer), He wore the rogue's badge, but is built on racing lines. |
7. attrib. or as adj. in general use, denoting:
a. An inexplicably aberrant result or phenomenon; an extra or misplaced item in a list, table, etc.
| 1952 Analyst LXXVII. 171 With the exception of one rogue result, the present estimates are as concordant as can reasonably be expected. 1964 C. Dent Quantity Surveying by Computer iii. 30 A device enabling you to switch the machine to manual and continue using it as an ordinary typewriter is very useful if, for instance, you wish to insert a ‘spot’ item, or other ‘rogue’ item in the bill of quantities, at the last moment. 1972 Physics Bull. Oct. 611/1 The tables have been well produced and very few errors were detected. In the body of the table, only one rogue point was noticed. 1979 Personal Computer World Nov. 73/2 When the program detects the rogue value, this is an indication that the input list is complete and further processing can continue. |
b. Something that is inexplicably faulty or defective.
| 1962 Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 12/7 Manufacturers are aware that ‘rogue’ and sub-standard cars are sold to the public. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 695/2 A group of American bombers..go rogue through a mechanical foul-up. 1971 Atom Apr. 99/1 Such differences are readily detectable and allow experimental fuel elements to be checked for rogue fuel pellets. 1974 Guardian 14 Mar. 9/2 His counsel..told Mr Justice Phillips... ‘You are familiar with the expression ‘rogue car’. Well, this was rather like a rogue house.’ |
c. That which lacks appropriate control; something which is irresponsible or undisciplined.
| 1964 Daily Tel. 22 Feb. 14/6 Frequent complaints were made about a very small number of ‘rogue’ firms which belonged to neither the Association of British Travel Agents nor the Travel Trade Association. 1972 Accountant 19 Oct. 496/1 How is the ordinary man in the street to tell whether it has been calculated on the ‘fair’ basis as laid down by the legislation, or the unfair basis which will no doubt be perpetrated by a considerable number of rogue traders? 1979 Daily Tel. 4 Apr. 3 A housewife's game of patience came to an abrupt end when a 20-ton ‘rogue’ mechanical shovel begun crunching its way through the walls of her semi-detached home. 1981 New Scientist 29 Jan. 278/3 (caption) Gamma-ray bursts may come from collisions between rogue asteroids and neutron stars. |
8. attrib. and
Comb., as
rogue-catcher,
rogue-face,
rogue-hero,
rogue-land,
rogue-lawyer,
rogue-priest,
rogue Radical,
rogue-word;
rogue-eyed,
rogue-like adjs.;
† rogue-house (see
quot.);
rogue-pease (?);
rogue-sapling, a sapling of an inferior kind.
For
rogue elephant, etc., see 5 and 5 b.
| 1630 Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Whore i. i. Wks. 1873 II. 179 Hold, you *Rogue-Catcher, hold. 1869 R. Walton Midland Circuit 142 The Bow Street Runners were never excelled as rogue-catchers by any other body of men. |
| 1867 Meredith Vittoria I. ix. 133 She had, in tripping down the Piazza with her *rogue-eyed cousin from Milan, looked away [etc.]. |
| 1697 Vanbrugh Prov. Wife v. iii, Stand off, *rogue-face. |
| 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2) Suppl., *Rogue-House, the house of correction. |
| 1898 Besant Orange Girl ii. xx, This man had for years exercised absolute sway over *Rogueland. |
| 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xviii, But the *rogue-lawyers..have at length roundly told me the clause must be complied with. |
| 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4357/4 At Ham..are to be sold, Garden Beans, Gosport-Beans, *Rogue-Pease, and Hotspur-Pease. |
| 1679 Dryden Troil. & Cress. iii. ii, Thou must be gone, to the fugitive *rogue-priest, thy father. |
| 1824 Scott in Lockhart (1839) V. 357 The *rogue Radicals had nearly set me on horseback again. |
| 1889 A. T. Pask Eyes Thames 146 Apple standards laden with the light silky-skinned Manx codlins, sometimes broken by the rosy-red of an intruding ‘*rogue’ sapling. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 48 *Roguewords, tough nuggets patter in their pockets. |
9. Special combs. with genitive, as
rogue's badge: see sense 6;
rogue's gallery, a collection of the portraits of criminals; also
transf. and
fig.;
rogue's gilliflower, the rocket (
Hesperis matronalis);
rogue's Latin, thieves' Latin (
cf. Latin B. 1 c);
rogue's march,
tattoo,
walk,
yarn (see
quots.).
| 1859 Amer. Jrnl. Photogr. II. 75 The *Rogues' Gallery is located at the police head quarters... The photographer is a regularly appointed policeman. 1889 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 24 Apr. 1/8 Their features adorn the rogues' galleries in the cities of the Union. 1904 [see Pink n.9]. 1945 ‘E. Queen’ (title) Rogues' gallery. 1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 41 His [sc. a pickpocket's] face appears more frequently than any other type of criminal in ‘rogue's galleries’ and police files. 1959 Listener 26 Nov. 946/1 Mr. Klein's second collection of arch-deceivers, his new rogues' gallery, is fascinating. 1973 ‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog x. 133 His face was not recognised in the rogues' gallery, nor did his description tally with any known criminal. 1977 McKnight & Tobler Bob Marley 10 Bob Dylan, Arthur Lee, Keith Richard, Bob Marley—the rogue's gallery of rebel input that forms the hard stuff at the centre of rock. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens 153 These floures be now called..in English Damaske violets..and *Rogues gillofers. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxv, He knows my gybe as well as the jark of e'er a queer cuffin in England—and there's *rogue's Latin for you. |
| 1802 James Milit. Dict. s.v. March, *Rogue's March, a tune which is played by trumpeters or fifers of a regiment..for the purpose of drumming out any person who has behaved disorderly..in a camp or garrison. |
| 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 81 To have him drummed out of the parish to the *rogue's tattoo. |
| 1882 Daily News 11 Jan. 2/1 The *Rogues'-walk—that broad ribbon of pavement stretching from Piccadilly-circus past the Criterion Theatre and Restaurant to the top of the Haymarket. |
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), *Rogues-yarn,..a rope⁓yarn, of a particular construction,..placed in the middle of every strand, in all cables and cordage in the king's service... The use of this contrivance is to examine whether any cordage, supposed to be stolen.., has been formed for the king's service. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict., Rogue's Yarn, a thread of worsted in the strands of rope manufactured for the Royal Navy, introduced for the purpose of detecting theft or embezzlement:..it serves also to trace any bad rope to the precise yard where it was made. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 577 Lately the rogue's yarn has been superseded by a thread of worsted. |
▸
rogue state n. a state perceived to be flouting international law and threatening the security of other nations.
| 1973 Washington Post 8 May a22/2 No less a menace is posed by Syria, a *rogue state which once again has sponsored an invasion of an Arab neighbor. 2003 Commentary Nov. 23/1 Where the U.S. might play an active role right now is in making it utterly clear to our ostensible ally that unless it ceases to export its nuclear know-how and materials to rogue states, it will be made to pay a very stiff price. |
▪ II. rogue, v. (
rəʊg)
Also 6
ro(a)ge, 6–7
roague.
[f. rogue n.] 1. a. intr. To wander idly about after the manner of rogues; to live like a rogue or vagrant; also, in later use, to play the rogue or rascal.
Very common
c 1575–1650; now
rare.
| α 1570 Levins Manip. 157/47 To Roge, vagari. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 53 A sort of vagarants, who run stragling (I wil not saie roging) ouer the countries. 1589 ? Lyly Pappe w. Hatchet E ij b, Trusse vp thy packet of flim flams, & roage to some Countrey Faire. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. xiv, And in the midst, Strife still would roaguing be. |
| β 1600 Holland Livy viii. xxxiv. 306 Without pasport, the souldiors may wander and rogue. 1656 Burton's Diary (1828) I. 21 You give them sixty miles compass to rogue in, which is more privilege than ever beggars enjoyed. 1667 Pepys Diary 1 June, Which will be becoming him much more than to live wenching and roguing, as he now do. 1680 Shadwell Woman-Capt. ii, Where have you been roguing, Sirrah, that you did not wait on me home? 1702 Burlesque R. L'Estrange's Vis. Quev. 250 He's at the Playhouse roguing bin. 1755 Johnson Rogue, To play knavish tricks. 1896 Kipling Seven Seas 190, I've rogued an' I've ranged in my time. |
† b. So
to rogue it.
Obs.| 1615 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Fennor's Defence Wks. (1630) ii. 149 Although I cannot Rogue it, as he can, Yet will I shew myselfe an honest man. 1632 Sherwood, To rogue it vp and downe the countrie, roder le pais. |
† 2. a. trans. To denounce as a rogue, to call (one) a rogue; to accuse of roguery.
Obs.| 1630 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Wks. (Nares), It may bee thou wast put in office lately, Which makes thee rogue me so, and rayle so stately. 1683 T. Hunt Def. Charter Lond. 25 The Poet hath undertaken for their being kicked..about the Stage to the Gallows, infamously rogued and rascalled. |
† b. To cast discredit on (something).
Obs.| 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. §32. 778 Though the Atheists may endeavour to rogue and ridicule all incorporeal substance in that manner. 1685 H. More Refl. Baxter 15 More like prophane Buffonry, to rogue and abuse so Sacred a Writing. |
3. To practise roguery upon; to swindle.
| 1841 Susanna Hawkins Poems V. 45 An' likewise rogue and cheat the poor, Who for their meat do labour sore. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. lv, We have rogues to deal with: but try we not to rogue them. 1889 W. Westall Birch Dene II. xii. 201 If he helps me to rogue other folks, he'll help other folks to rogue me. |
4. To free from inferior plants or seedlings. Also, to take
out (inferior plants) from a crop.
| 1766 Compl. Farmer s.v. Pease 5 Z 1/1 The only way to prevent this, is to rogue them, as the gardeners term it, that is to say,..to draw out all the bad plants from among the good ones. 1905 Dundee Advertiser 25 July 6 Of late agriculturists have had excellent opportunities for ‘rogueing’ their drills. 1965 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 26 Sept. 15 Sometimes we speak of ‘rogueing’ a crop, which means taking out the plants which aren't typical of the variety or which have become diseased. 1967 Sunday Times 19 Feb. 31/4 Small flowered plants should be rogued out or not allowed to seed. 1978 Country Life 20 July 184/3 White foxgloves..once established will seed themselves. If you keep roguing out any coloured throwbacks they could become a permanent feature. |