n. Informal.
A photograph of a person's face, especially one made for police files.
| Dictionary: mug shot |
A photograph of a person's face, especially one made for police files.
| 5min Related Video: mug shot |
| WordNet: mug shot |
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
a photograph of someone's face (especially one made for police records)
| Wikipedia: Mug shot |
A mug shot, or booking photograph, is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested.[1] The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of the arrested individual to allow for identification by victims and investigators. Most mug shots are two-part, with one side-view photo, and one front-view.
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The mug shot was invented by Allan Pinkerton, a famous U.S. detective of the 19th Century. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency first began using these on Wanted posters from the Wild West days. By the 1870s the agency had amassed the largest collection of mug shots in the United States.[2]
Prior to the advent of computer technology, the accused was asked to hold a card with his name, the date, and other relevant information on it. In recent years, digital photography is used for the booking process, and the accused is no longer asked to hold the card while the photo is taken. Rather, the digital photograph is linked to a database record concerning the arrest.
The term derives from mug, an English slang term for face, dating from the 18th century.
The phrase is also sometimes used to refer to any small picture of a face used for any other reason.
Booking photographs are automatically entered into the public domain in the United States, and can be obtained by anyone through the Freedom of Information Act, except in special cases when the arrestees' record has been sealed.[citation needed]
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| Translations: Mugshot |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - (forbryder)foto
Français (French)
n. - photo, photo de criminel
Deutsch (German)
n. - Verbrecherfoto
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - φωτογραφία σήμανσης (κακοποιού)
Italiano (Italian)
foto segnaletica (di delinquente)
Português (Portuguese)
n. - fotografia de um criminoso espalhada pela polícia (f), fotografia para fins oficiais (f)
Русский (Russian)
фотография человека (особенно в полиции)
Español (Spanish)
n. - fotografía para ficha de delincuentes
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - (förbrytar)fotografi
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
脸部照片
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 臉部照片
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - צילום פנים (בעיקר של עציר)
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Copyrights:
![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mug shot". Read more | |
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