rogue

noun

1. 1

   A scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.

   And meet time it was, when yon usher, vinegar-faced rogue that he is, began to inquire what popish trangam you were wearing […]

   He had told more lies in his time, and undergone more baseness of stratagem in order to stave off a small debt, or to swindle a poor creditor, than would have sufficed to make a fortune for a braver rogue.

   […] No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it.

   As The Dark Knight Rises brings a close to Christopher Nolan’s staggeringly ambitious Batman trilogy, it’s worth remembering that director chose The Scarecrow as his first villain—not necessarily the most popular among the comic’s gallery of rogues, but the one who set the tone for entire series.

2. 2

   A mischievous scamp.

   Ah, you sweet little rogue, you!

3. 3

   A vagrant.

4. 4

   Malware that deceitfully presents itself as antispyware.

   An entry in the Microsoft Malware Protection Center's Threat Research & Response Blog shows that rogue AV, also known as scareware, is ruling the malware roost, as 6 top of the 10 malicious programs removed by the MSRT (Malicious Software Removal Tool) in the US in October were 'rogues'.

   Next, click the "Installed on" heading in the Windows 7 uninstaller to sort the list by date, and see if any programs have the same date and time stamps as your rogues.

   Now though researchers at Microsoft's Malware Protection Center are reporting a downward trend in the traffic generated by some of the most popular rogues over the past 12 months.

5. 5

   An aggressive animal separate from the herd, especially an elephant.

   If he is a rogue, and there's any truth to territoriality at all, we got a good chance of spotting him between Cape Scott and South Beach.

6. 6

   A horse, mule, or donkey that is difficult to control; a refractory horse, especially a racehorse.

   The rogues among the horses and mules sought every chance to break the line and hide under shady trees where sweet grass grew.

7. 7

   A plant that shows some undesirable variation.

   2000 Carol Deppe, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, Totnes: Chelsea Green Pub. Maintaining varieties also requires selection, however. It's usually referred to as culling or roguing. ...we examine the [plant] population and eliminate the occasional rogue.

8. 8

   A character class focusing on stealthy conduct.

   As a rogue, I weave together light and heavy attacks, sometimes holding a button longer to charge an attack and build up the stagger meter on an enemy.

adjective

1. 1

   Vicious and solitary.

   Mosquito. One lone rogue mosquito.

2. 2

   Large, destructive and unpredictable.

3. 3

   Deceitful, unprincipled.

   In the minds of Republican hard-liners, the "Silent Majority" of Americans who had elected the President, and even Nixon's two Democrat predecessors, China was a gigantic nuke-wielding rogue state prepared to overrun the free world at any moment.

4. 4

   Mischievous, unpredictable.

   Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

verb

1. 1

   To cull; to destroy plants not meeting a required standard, especially when saving seed, rogue or unwanted plants are removed before pollination.

   2000 Carol Deppe, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, Totnes: Chelsea Green Pub. Maintaining varieties also requires selection, however. It's usually referred to as culling or roguing. ...we examine the [plant] population and eliminate the occasional rogue.

   Our skill as roguers was being tested. After we had rogued a field the field was inspected and the potatoes classified Stock Seed, A, B or H. In those days, between Stock seed and Class A, there was £2 per ton of potatoes difference.

2. 2

   datedTo cheat.

   And then to think that Mark should have rogued me of five shiners! He was clever—that's a fact.

3. 3

   obsoleteTo give the name or designation of rogue to; to decry.

   he Atheists may endeavour to rogue and ridicule all incorporeal Substance

4. 4

   obsoleteTo wander; to play the vagabond; to play knavish tricks.

   if hee be but once so taken idlely roguing

Forms

plural

rogues

comparative

more rogue

superlative

most rogue

past tense

rogued

past participle

rogued

present participle

roguing, rogueing

third person singular

rogues