"history sheet" means: Indian English for a rap sheet — the official police record documenting a person's criminal history, arrests, and charges. The term is widel.... This is technical or formal vocabulary, more likely to appear in school work, news or a particular profession than in peer chat. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your child uses the term, it is usually a sign of curiosity about a subject area. A short follow-up question about where they came across it is usually all that is needed.
history sheet
Indian English for a rap sheet — the official police record documenting a person's criminal history, arrests, and charges.
Definitions
US
#1·Apr 28, 2026US
Indian English for a rap sheet — the official police record documenting a person's criminal history, arrests, and charges. The term is widely used across Indian law enforcement and judiciary contexts. Having a history sheet against your name carries serious social weight in India, often affecting employment and community standing. The phrase is so embedded in Indian legal culture that it has largely replaced 'police record' in everyday use.
The landlord ran a check and found the applicant had a history sheet going back fifteen years.
Origin: Editorial expansion authored on Slangora.
For parents
"history sheet" means: Indian English for a rap sheet — the official police record documenting a person's criminal history, arrests, and charges. The term is widel.... This is technical or formal vocabulary, more likely to appear in school work, news or a particular profession than in peer chat. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your child uses the term, it is usually a sign of curiosity about a subject area. A short follow-up question about where they came across it is usually all that is needed.
For ESL learners
"history sheet" means: Indian English for a rap sheet — the official police record documenting a person's criminal history, arrests, and charges. The term is widel.... Register: formal or technical English, standard in its specialist domain (law, medicine, science, finance, etc.). Gloss the term with a plain synonym when writing for a general audience. Note the regional or dialect label (Indian) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short
Cluster: authority_figure
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US
#2·Apr 27, 2026US
(India) A rap sheet.
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Other words near "history sheet" (H)
hisnHispanoHispasianhissyhistoric districthistory of the four kingshistory-sheeterhit a cliphit a home runhit a lickhit and gigglehit and run
Browse all slang words starting with H.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- history-sheeter64%
(India) A person with a criminal record, especially an extensive one.
- rap sheet57%
(US, law, criminology) A printed police record of an individual's citations, arrests, convictions, and incarcerations, usually in a single jurisdiction.
- pickpocketer53%
An Indian English variant of 'pickpocket' — the person who steals from your pockets, bags, or wherever you keep your valuables in crowded spaces. While standard British and American English says 'pickpocket' for both the act and the person, Indian English tends to add the '-er' suffix to form 'pickpocketer' as the agent noun. You'll hear it in Indian news reports, police discussions, and everyday warnings about crowded markets or train stations. Same meaning, just a regional grammatical preference.
- chargesheet51%
(India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) A document of accusation prepared by law enforcement to be submitted to the court.