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.

---

cop ² American  

[kop] / kɒp /

verb (used with object)

Slang.

copped, copping

1. to catch; nab.

2. to steal; filch.

3. to buy (narcotics).

---

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.

---

COP ⁴ American  

abbreviation

Thermodynamics.

1. coefficient of performance.

---

cop. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. copper.

2. copyright; copyrighted.

---

Cop. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Copernican.

2. Coptic.

---

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

---

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

---

COP ³ British  

abbreviation

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

---

cop ⁴ British  

/ kɒp /

noun

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

   that work is not much cop

---

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.

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

Pakistan’s involvement in the negotiations allowed Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to play bad cop to Islamabad’s good cop, Signorelli says.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026

"He's covering his tracks so well and, you know, is there a possibility it could be a cop?"

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

And then in 2001, he won the Oscar for best supporting actor for Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic," in which he played a Mexican border cop who tries to remain honest amid the drug wars.

From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026

Annie Mumolo puts an original spin on the college secretary, and Phoenix Raei, as Dan the campus cop, keeps catching Greg doing something wrong.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

It told a particular story about the victim and said nothing about the cop who’d pulled the trigger.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste