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View synonyms for cop

cop

1

[ kop ]

noun

, Informal.
  1. a person who seeks to regulate a specified behavior, activity, practice, etc.:

    Once we have the government dictating language usage, then we'll start getting language cops.



cop

2

[ kop ]

verb (used with object)

, Slang.
, copped, cop·ping.
  1. to catch; nab.
  2. to steal; filch.
  3. to buy (narcotics).

verb phrase

  1. Slang.
    1. to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out (often followed by on or of ):

      He never copped out on a friend in need.

      You agreed to go, and you can't cop out now.

    2. cop a plea.

cop

3

[ kop ]

noun

  1. a conical mass of thread, yarn, etc., wound on a spindle.
  2. British Dialect. the top or tip of something, as the crest of a hill.

COP

4

abbreviation for

, Thermodynamics.

cop.

5

abbreviation for

  1. copper.
  2. copyright; copyrighted.

Cop.

6

abbreviation for

  1. Copernican.
  2. Coptic.

cop

1

/ kɒp /

noun

  1. slang.
    usually used with a negative worth or value

    that work is not much cop

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


cop

2

/ kɒp /

noun

  1. another name for policeman
  2. an arrest (esp in the phrase a fair cop )
  3. an instance of plagiarism
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to seize or catch
  2. to steal
  3. to buy, steal, or otherwise obtain (illegal drugs) Compare score
  4. Alsocop it to suffer (a punishment)

    you'll cop a clout if you do that!

  5. cop it sweet slang.
    1. to accept a penalty without complaint
    2. to have good fortune
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cop

3

/ kɒp /

noun

  1. a conical roll of thread wound on a spindle
  2. dialect.
    the top or crest, as of a hill
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

COP

4

abbreviation for

  1. Certificate of Proficiency: a pass in a university subject
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cop1

First recorded in 1855–60; shortening of copper 2

Origin of cop2

First recorded in 1695–1705; of uncertain origin; compare cap (obsolete) “to arrest,” Scots cap “to seize,” ultimately from dialectal Old French caper “to take,” from Latin capere

Origin of cop3

First recorded before 1000; Middle English cop(e), coppe “summit, peak; top (of a tower, building),” also “crown (of the head),” Old English cop(p) “tip, top, summit”; probably cognate with Dutch kop, German Kopf “head”; cup
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cop1

C19: n use of cop 1(in the sense: to catch, hence something caught, something of value)

Origin of cop2

C18: (vb) perhaps from obsolete cap to arrest, from Old French caper to seize; sense 1, back formation from copper ²

Origin of cop3

Old English cop, copp top, summit, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old English copp cup
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. cop a plea, Slang.
    1. to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence.
    2. to plead guilty to a lesser charge as a means of bargaining one's way out of standing trial for a more serious charge; plea-bargain.
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Example Sentences

Smith attended both funerals as a cop and as the husband of Police Officer Moira Smith, who died on 9/11.

Lucas said that he himself nonetheless hopes to become a cop.

Nobody ever says they want to become a cop so they can bust people for urinating in public or drinking alcohol on their stoop.

The NOPD fired Knight in 1973 for stealing lumber from a construction site as an off-duty cop.

They selected an “easy mark” who turned out to be an off-duty NYC Housing Authority cop named James Carragher.

Once he had been a young cop, determined to work his way up in the police force.

In his efforts to clear himself, the young cop had taken half a dozen lead slugs from underworld guns into his body.

It was the Hermit's vast store of scientific knowledge that brought the half-dead cop back to health.

The sight of a traffic cop made him dodge around a corner that threw him off his course.

He struck just one wild haymaker of a blow that cleared the head of the cop by nearly a foot.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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