Cop Definition

kŏp
copped, copping, cops
noun
A police officer.
American Heritage
One that regulates certain behaviors or actions.
American Heritage
The top or crest, as of a hill.
Webster's New World
A cone-shaped roll of thread or yarn coiled round a spindle.
Webster's New World
A policeman.
Webster's New World
verb
copped, copping, cops
To get hold of; gain or win.
A show that copped four awards; copped a ticket to the game.
American Heritage
To seize, capture, take, win, steal, etc.
Webster's New World
To perceive by one of the senses.
American Heritage
To buy (drugs)
Webster's New World

(formerly dialect, now informal) To obtain, to purchase (as in drugs), to get hold of, to take.

Wiktionary
abbreviation
Coptic.
American Heritage
Copyright.
Webster's New World
Wiktionary
idiom
cop a feel
  • To fondle someone sexually in a surreptitious way.
American Heritage
cop a plea
  • To plead guilty to a lesser charge so as to avoid standing trial for a more serious charge.
American Heritage
cop a plea
  • to plead guilty to a criminal charge, esp. so as to get a lighter sentence
Webster's New World
cop out
  • to confess to the police, often implicating another
Webster's New World
cop to
  • to admit or acknowledge
Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Cop

Origin of Cop

  • From Middle English coppe, from Old English *coppe, as in ātorcoppe (“spider”, literally “venom head”), from Old English copp (“top, summit, head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz (“vault, round vessel, head”), from Proto-Indo-European *gū- (“to bend, curve”). Cognate with Middle Dutch koppe, kobbe (“spider”). More at cobweb.

    From Wiktionary

  • Possibly from Middle French capere (“to capture”), from Latin capere (“to seize, to grasp”); or possibly from Dutch kapen (“to steal”), from West Frisian kāpia (“to take away”), from Old Frisian kapia, to buy.

    From Wiktionary

  • Old English cop, copp, from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz (“vault, basin, round object”), from Proto-Indo-European *gu-. Cognate with Dutch kop, German Kopf.

    From Wiktionary

  • Probably variant of cap to catch from Old French caper from Latin capere capture

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Short for copper (“police officer”), itself from cop (“one who cops”) above, i.e. a criminal.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English summit from Old English

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Short for copper

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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