co-op

American

[koh-op, koh-op, koh-op] / ˈkoʊ ɒp, ˈkoʊ ɒp, koʊˈɒp /

noun

a cooperative store, dwelling, program, etc.

verb (used with object)

co-oped, co-opped, co-oping, co-opping

to place in a cooperative arrangement, especially to convert (an apartment or building) to a cooperative.

adjective

(of a game, especially a video game) cooperative, requiring players to work together to achieve a common objective: co-op multiplayer games.

co-op play modes;
co-op multiplayer games.

idioms

go co-op, to convert to a cooperative.

Our apartment building is going co-op.

Other Word Forms

co-oper noun

Etymology

Origin of co-op

First recorded in 1860–65; shortened form

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

C.O.C. runs its own co-op farms in 10 of them, where they grow and process rare varietals like Liberica, a bean that accounts for less than 2% of global coffee production.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

I earn $100,000 and I’m currently shouldering the mortgage, maintenance — specific to a co-op — and normal kid expenses.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 9, 2026

On Jan. 1, Spielberg and Capshaw officially became residents of New York City, settling in the historic San Remo co-op in Central Park West.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Or made by the woman in your apartment building who has both a co-op volunteering shift and a single, long gray braid.

From Salon • Jan. 13, 2026

It had been built in the 1950s and was designed as a co-op, meant to ease a post-World War II housing shortage for black working-class families.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023