plain clothes

or plainclothes

plural noun

clothing other than one's uniform, especially civilian clothes worn on duty by a police officer.

Origin of plain clothes

First recorded in 1815–25

Other words from plain clothes

plain-clothes, plainclothes, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use plain clothes in a sentence

At 4:45 p.m., he was approached by Justin Damico, a plainclothes cop, and another officer, Daniel Pantaleo, outside the store.
Before Eric Garner, There Was Michael Stewart: The Tragic Story of the Real-Life Radio Raheem | Marlow Stern | December 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The first two he was detained by plainclothes agents for nearly a month, and the third lasted for 44 days.
Iranian Poet Blacklisted for Being Gay | Nina Strochlic | July 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The new round of seminars will train another 6,200 police, both beat cops and plainclothes detectives.
Rio’s Cops Get Tolerance Tutorial | Mac Margolis | June 7, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Ahmad claims that four plainclothes officers cuffed him to a chair, jammed open his mouth, and electrocuted his gums.
Assad’s House of Torture | Anna Therese Day | October 14, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Any armed person in plainclothes runs the risk of being killed by well-meaning officers or citizens.
Police Know Better Than to Stand Their Ground | Eugene O'Donnell | April 8, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

And I met some other officers coming down, plainclothes, and I believe they were deputy sheriffs.
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
"I feel like a convict arrested by plainclothes men," complained Harry, glancing before and behind.
The Whole Family | William Dean Howells, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Mary Heaton
The big wagon was just starting away from the station door when he arrived, crowded inside with bluecoats and plainclothes-men.
The Einstein See-Saw | Miles John Breuer
There were two plainclothes men—the Technical Squad, Bending knew—and four uniformed officers.
Damned If You Don't | Gordon Randall Garrett
Afterwards, the plainclothes man and the two guards stood over him.
Freedom | Dallas McCord Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for plain clothes

plain clothes

pl n

- ordinary clothes, as distinguished from uniform, as worn by a police detective on duty
- (as modifier): a plain-clothes policeman

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

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