cop1
[kop]
- to catch; nab.
- to steal; filch.
- to buy (narcotics).
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- cop out,
- 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.
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- cop a plea,
- to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence.
- 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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Origin of cop1
1695–1705; compare cap (obsolete) to arrest, Scots cap to seize ≪ dialectal Old French caper to take, ultimately < Latin capere
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for copped
Contemporary Examples
The judges noted that he told one of the officers he had “copped some lumber.”
Beck copped to resetting the computer system, and was fired.
A string of former city vendors, subcontractors and administration insiders, who had all copped pleas, testified to the bribes.
Big banks have copped to heinous crimes that have cost citizens billions of dollars.
JPMorgan asset advisors have copped to giving misleading, pocket-lining advice.
Historical Examples
"Why, he copped the copper's kale," Aggie translated, glibly.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
The risk is bigger for me than for you, and I'm not going to be copped—no, not for anybody.'
Chatterbox, 1906Various
The copped hat had no brim, and was about a foot and a half in height.
The White Rose of LangleyEmily Sarah Holt
We were billeted at an estaminet that had copped it pretty thick.
A Lively Bit of the FrontPercy F. Westerman
An then I copped it and crawled back in an out more shell-holes.
Grapes of wrathBoyd Cable
cop1
- another name for policeman
- British an arrest (esp in the phrase a fair cop)
- an instance of plagiarism
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- to seize or catch
- to steal
- to buy, steal, or otherwise obtain (illegal drugs)Compare score (def. 26)
- Also: cop it to suffer (a punishment)you'll cop a clout if you do that!
- cop it sweet Australian slang
- to accept a penalty without complaint
- to have good fortune
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Word Origin
C18: (vb) perhaps from obsolete cap to arrest, from Old French caper to seize; sense 1, back formation from copper ²
cop2
- a conical roll of thread wound on a spindle
- mainly dialect the top or crest, as of a hill
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Word Origin
Old English cop, copp top, summit, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old English copp cup
cop3
- British slang (usually used with a negative) worth or valuethat work is not much cop
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Word Origin
C19: n use of cop 1 (in the sense: to catch, hence something caught, something of value)
COP
- Certificate of Proficiency: a pass in a university subject
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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
Word Origin and History for copped
cop
v.
1704, northern British dialect, "to seize, to catch," perhaps ultimately from Middle French caper "seize, to take," from Latin capere "to take" (see capable); or from Dutch kapen "to take," from Old Frisian capia "to buy," which is related to Old English ceapian (see cheap). Related: Copped; copping.
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cop
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper