Murderers' Rown.
/ˌməːd(ə)rəz ˈrəʊ/, U.S. /ˌmərdərərz ˈroʊ/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
1. Police slang and Prison slang. A row of prison cells in which condemned murderers or other violent criminals are held (originally that in the Tombs prison, New York City).
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > cell > for those condemned to death
condemned cell1818
salt-box1819
death cell1825
Murderers' Row1871
death row1894
1871 N.Y. Herald 11 Mar. 12/2 At the back of the door of cell No. 8 in murderers' row, in a low chair, is seated a little girl of twelve or thirteen years of age.
1873 Dark Side N.Y. Life 731 The cells on the second floor contain those charged with murder..and is [sic] therefore called ‘Murderers' Row’.
1884 F. Triplett Great Amer. Crimes & Criminals 217 Walworth was committed to a cell in ‘Murderers' Row’, in the Tombs.
1915 J. London Star Rover 328 The warden with a quart of champagne. I have dispatched it down Murderers' Row.
1993 L. Rodriguez Always Running vii. 162 The deputies threw us into ‘murderers row’, where hardcore offenders were awaiting trial or serving time.
2.
a. Baseball slang. A group of powerful hitters batting in succession for a particular team (most notably the New York Yankees of the 1920s).E. J. Nichols Baseball Terminol. (1939) refers to an occurrence of the term in 1858 (Spalding Collection, New York Public Library). This occurrence has not been found.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball player > [noun] > players alternating at same position
Murderers' Row1905
platoon player1960
platoon1976
1905 Washington Post 24 Apr. 8/6 Yale's hitting in the last few years has been a cross between a crime and a joke, but this year the cry is loud for hitters and Lush, a member of ‘Murderer's Row’, as pitchers call the first six batters on the Cleveland list, is there to teach the team the art.
1921 N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 5 Sept. 8/4 The Yankee fan thinks ‘Murderers' Row’ can annihilate the best pitching in any short series.
1962 R. Houk & C. Dexter Ballplayers are Human, Too ix. 188 Here's Johnny Blanchard of our 1961 Murderer's Row.
1994 D. Halberstam October 1964 xiv. 189 That brought up Willie Mays, to be followed by Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda—the heart of the order, a new black Murderers' Row.
b. In extended use: an elite or notorious group.
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1952 San Francisco Chron. 5 Oct. 1/6 [Eisenhower] should be told he has taken under his wing a ‘murderers' row’ of reactionaries.
1983 N.Y. Times 22 Sept. d 10/3 Coke, Pepsi, Philip Morris and Procter & Gamble. That's a murderer's row in terms of marketing ability.
2000 New Republic 9 Oct. 48/1 Scotland, whose famous thinkers, a murderer's row of philosophers named Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, [etc.]..first set forth a theory of political economy..to link..politics, economics, and human nature.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1871