silent copn.
/ˌsʌɪlənt ˈkɒp/, /ˌsʌɪln̩t ˈkɒp/, U.S. /ˌsaɪlən(t) ˈkɑp/, Australian English /ˌsɑelənt ˈkɔp/, /ˌsɑeln̩t ˈkɔp/, New Zealand English /ˌsɑelənt ˈkɒp/, /ˌsɑeln̩t ˈkɒp/ Australian, New Zealand, and North American. Now often historical.
A small structure placed at the centre of a road junction which allows vehicles travelling in different directions to cross the junction safely at the same time by driving around the device in the same direction. Also: such a structure placed at the corner of the road to prevent vehicles passing too close to the kerb; = silent policeman n.In North America, silent cops take various forms but are typically tall, slender posts, sometimes fitted with lights and signage indicating in which direction vehicles should drive around them. In Australia, silent cops are small, low concrete or metal domes, which are painted yellow and kept to the right as a vehicle crosses the junction. In New Zealand, they take either of these forms.
ΚΠ
1914 Fitchburg (Mass.) Daily Sentinel 14 July 5/3 Four vehicles are sometimes circling the silent cop at the same time.
1934 T. Wood Cobbers x. 122 A circle in the middle of cross-roads, for example, round which all traffic changing direction must swing; a round yellow blob, known here [i.e. in Adelaide] as the Silent Cop, or the Poached Egg.
1959 D. Hewett Bobbin Up (1961) i. 10 This was the corner, by the silent cop, where she and Roy had come to grief.
2018 Central Western Daily (Austral.) (Nexis) 16 Feb. Remember those silent cops in the middle of intersections that you had to drive around when making a right turn? The yellow domes..became redundant when diamond turns were introduced in the 1970s and the council took most of them out.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1914