Murderers' Row
/ˌməːd(ə)rəz ˈrəʊ/(also Murderers Row, Murderer's Row) originally and chiefly US
noun
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).
2 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, N.Y. Public Library). This occurrence has not been found..
3In extended use: an elite or notorious group.
Origin
Late 19th century; earliest use found in The New York Herald. From the genitive plural of murderer + row.