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• cop
  cop

  noun

  a police officer.
• COP
  COP

  abbreviation

  coefficient of performance.
• cop.
  cop.

  abbreviation

  copper.
• Cop.
  Cop.

  abbreviation

  Copernican.

SEE ALSO:

Slang dictionary results for cop.

cop

¹ American  

[kop] / kɒp /

noun

Informal.

1. a police officer.

2. 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.

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cop ² American  

[kop] / kɒp /

verb (used with object)

Slang.

cops, present (3rd person singular) copped, past participle, past copping present participle

1. to catch; nab.

2. to steal; filch.

3. to buy (narcotics).

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verb phrase

1. cop out

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

      He never copped out on a friend in need.

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

   2. cop a plea.

idioms

1. cop a plea,

   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.

cop ³ American  

[kop] / kɒp /

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.

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COP ⁴ American  

abbreviation

Thermodynamics.

1. coefficient of performance.

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cop. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. copper.

2. copyright; copyrighted.

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Cop. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Copernican.

2. Coptic.

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cop ¹ British  

/ kɒp /

noun

1. another name for policeman

2. an arrest (esp in the phrase a fair cop )

3. an instance of plagiarism

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verb

1. to seize or catch

2. to steal

3. to buy, steal, or otherwise obtain (illegal drugs) Compare score

4. Also: cop it.  to suffer (a punishment)

   you'll cop a clout if you do that!

5. slang

   1. to accept a penalty without complaint

   2. to have good fortune

cop ² British  

/ kɒp /

noun

1. a conical roll of thread wound on a spindle

2. dialect the top or crest, as of a hill

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COP ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Certificate of Proficiency: a pass in a university subject

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cop ⁴ British  

/ kɒp /

noun

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

   that work is not much cop

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Usage

What else does cop mean? A cop is an informal term for a police officer. As a verb, cop is used in a variety of slang expressions meaning "grab" or "obtain," from copping a feel on someone (not recommended) to copping out on going to a party (meaning “not going”) to copping to (meaning “confessing to”) eating the last slice of pizza.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• copping
  present
• copped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cop
  simple
• cops
  simple
• have copped
  perfect
• has copped
  perfect
• am copping
  progressive
• are copping
  progressive
• is copping
  progressive
• have been copping
  perfect progressive
• has been copping
  perfect progressive

Past

• copped
  simple
• had copped
  perfect
• was copping
  progressive
• were copping
  progressive
• had been copping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cop
  simple
• will have copped
  perfect
• will be copping
  progressive
• will have been copping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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”; see cup

Explanation

A cop is a police officer. If you realize you're speeding in a school zone, you might look around nervously, hoping you won't see a cop. Cop is an informal, somewhat derogatory word for a police officer. When it's a verb, it means "to steal" or to "strike an attitude." An angry cop might say to a young troublemaker, "Hey, don't cop an attitude with me!" In the US, a legal defendant can also "cop a plea," or agree to a plea bargain. The earliest meaning of cop was "to catch," probably from the Latin capere, "to take."

Example Sentences

"It's not all the job of importers. It's not all the job of exporters. That's what a COP is for -- bring all parties together."

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

Tuvalu is targeting the COP process to find "new contributors" to its trust fund, according to a September government report.

From Barron's • May 28, 2026

ConocoPhillips COP -0.24%decrease; red down pointing triangle and other U.S. energy companies are also waiting for Venezuela to complete new contract rules that would clarify the government’s cut of any foreign fossil-fuel investments.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

Chevron CVX 0.14%increase; green up pointing triangle operates big gas assets off the coast of Israel that it has shut off, while ConocoPhillips COP 0.71%increase; green up pointing triangle has stakes in Qatari gas assets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

For those who learn languages, as so many people do nowadays, by visual images, there will always be an undercurrent toward saying "COP."

From What is Coming? by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)