cop

noun

/kɒp/

/kɑːp/

(informal)Idioms

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a police officer
- Somebody call the cops!
- children playing cops and robbers
- a TV cop show
Extra Examples
- Lots of children play cops and robbers.
- Penn stars as a rookie cop out to prove himself.
- The film is based on the true story of a New York cop.
- The star was stopped by traffic cops on Friday night.
Topics Law and justicec1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
Cop is used before these nouns:
car
killer
show
…
See full entry
Word Originearly 18th cent. (as a verb): perhaps from obsolete cap ‘arrest’, from Old French caper ‘seize’, from Latin capere. The noun is from copper ‘police officer’.

Idioms

it’s a fair cop

(British English, informal, humorous) used by somebody who is caught doing something wrong, to say that they admit that they are wrong

not much cop

(British English, slang) not very good
- He's not much cop as a singer.

cop

verb

/kɒp/

/kɑːp/

(informal)

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they cop	/kɒp/ /kɑːp/
he / she / it cops	/kɒps/ /kɑːps/
past simple copped	/kɒpt/ /kɑːpt/
past participle copped	/kɒpt/ /kɑːpt/
-ing form copping	/ˈkɒpɪŋ/ /ˈkɑːpɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

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cop something to receive or suffer something unpleasant
- He copped all the hassle after the accident.
cop something to notice something
- Cop a load of this! (= Listen to this)

Word Originearly 18th cent. (as a verb): perhaps from obsolete cap ‘arrest’, from Old French caper ‘seize’, from Latin capere. The noun is from copper ‘police officer’.

Idioms

cop hold of something

(British English, informal) to take hold of something

cop it (British English, slang)

to be punished
- Will you cop it from your dad if you're late?
to be killed
- He almost copped it in a horrific accident.

cop a plea

(North American English, informal) to admit in court to being guilty of a small crime in the hope of receiving less severe punishment for a more serious crime
- The Feds said if I didn't cop a plea I would get 15 years.
compare plea bargaining