cop

1
[ kop ]
See synonyms for cop on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  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.

Origin of cop

1
First recorded in 1855–60; shortening of copper2

Other definitions for cop (2 of 6)

cop2
[ kop ]

verb (used with object),copped, cop·ping.Slang.
  1. to catch; nab.

  2. to steal; filch.

  1. to buy (narcotics).

Verb Phrases
  1. cop out, Slang.

    • 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.

    • cop a plea.

Origin of cop

2
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

Other definitions for cop (3 of 6)

cop3
[ 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.

Origin of cop

3
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

Other definitions for COP (4 of 6)

COP

abbreviationThermodynamics.

Other definitions for cop. (5 of 6)

cop.

abbreviation
  1. copper.

  2. copyright; copyrighted.

Other definitions for Cop. (6 of 6)

Cop.

abbreviation
  1. Copernican.

  2. Coptic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cop in a sentence

  • I'm willing to grant that it might not have been they who copped Massey, but I can't think of anything else.

    The Onslaught from Rigel | Fletcher Pratt
  • I got my despatch soon afterwards and returned with it to the General, who was spending the night at Copped Hall.

    The Invasion | William Le Queux
  • Waited for me and copped me on the topper as I came around the corner.

    Dave Dawson at Truk | Robert Sydney Bowen
  • He copped me dough and sent me down here and told me to work off my mad on you.

    The Snow-Burner | Henry Oyen
  • He was leading a rush of his section in fine style, when he ‘copped a packet.’

    Cupid in Africa | P. C. Wren

British Dictionary definitions for cop (1 of 4)

cop1

/ (kɒp) slang /


noun
  1. another name for policeman

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

  1. an instance of plagiarism

verbcops, copping or copped (tr)
  1. to seize or catch

  2. to steal

  1. to buy, steal, or otherwise obtain (illegal drugs): Compare score (def. 26)

  2. Also: cop it to suffer (a punishment): you'll cop a clout if you do that!

  3. cop it sweet Australian slang

    • to accept a penalty without complaint

    • to have good fortune

Origin of cop

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

British Dictionary definitions for cop (2 of 4)

cop2

/ (kɒp) /


noun
  1. a conical roll of thread wound on a spindle

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

Origin of cop

2
Old English cop, copp top, summit, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old English copp cup

British Dictionary definitions for cop (3 of 4)

cop3

/ (kɒp) /


noun
  1. British slang (usually used with a negative) worth or value: that work is not much cop

Origin of cop

3
C19: n use of cop 1 (in the sense: to catch, hence something caught, something of value)

British Dictionary definitions for COP (4 of 4)

COP

abbreviation for(in New Zealand)
  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