cops and robbers

American  

noun

1. a children's game in which a group of players imitate the behavior of police and of thieves, as in pursuing and capturing.

---

Etymology

Origin of cops and robbers

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

He said in their early 20s, the rappers ran around Shakur’s backyard with unloaded guns playing a game of cops and robbers.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 11, 2023

‘Heat’ Al Pacino and Robert De Niro play cops and robbers in Michael Mann’s atmospheric 1995 crime drama set in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2022

Like some of the New York filmmakers in whose footsteps he follows, he’s interested in cops and robbers, capers and chases.

From New York Times • Jun. 2, 2020

Growing up, whenever he would play cops and robbers with his friends, he said he always wanted to be the good cop, never the bad guy.

From Washington Times • Nov. 24, 2018

“Which was it, by truck or by cart?” the children sometimes asked her on their way to play cops and robbers in the alley.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri