plain clothesnoun [ plural ]
uk/ˌpleɪn ˈkləʊðz/us/ˌpleɪn ˈkloʊðz/ordinary clothes when worn by police when they are working:
There were police in plain clothes in the crowd.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
The police generally
- baton
 - baton charge
 - billy club
 - booze bus
 - CID
 - constabulary
 - escort
 - fuzz
 - met
 - patrol car
 - police
 - police department
 - police force
 - police state
 - the long arm of the law idiom
 - the Metropolitan Police
 - the RCMP
 - the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
 - traffic cops
 - warrant
 
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plain-clothes  
adjective [ before noun ] uk/ˌpleɪnˈkləʊðz/us/-ˈkloʊðz/
plain-clothes police officers/detectives