Adjacent Words

Cop definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COP, n. [G.] The had or top of a thing, as in cob-castle for cop-castle, a castle on a hill; a tuft on the head of birds. This word is little used in America, unless cob, the spike of maize, may be the same word.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: uncomplimentary terms for a policeman [syn: bull, cop, copper, fuzz, pig] v
1: take by theft; "Someone snitched my wallet!" [syn: hook, snitch, thieve, cop, knock off, glom]
2: take into custody; "the police nabbed the suspected criminals" [syn: collar, nail, apprehend, arrest, pick up, nab, cop]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English copp Date: before 12th century 1. dialect chiefly England top, crest 2. a cylindrical or conical mass of thread, yarn, or roving wound on a quill or tube; also a quill or tube upon which it is wound II. verb (copped; copping) Etymology: perhaps from Dutch kapen to steal, from Frisian k?pia to buy; akin to Old High German kouf trade — more at cheap Date: 1704 transitive verb 1. slang to get hold of ; catch, capture; also purchase 2. slang steal, swipe 3. adopt 2 <cop an attitude> intransitive verb slang admit 2b — used with to <these small-timers would…cop to the smallest offense their attorney could negotiate — Tom Clancy> III. noun Etymology: short for ³copper Date: 1859 police officer IV. abbreviation 1. copper 2. copulative 3. copy 4. copyright

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. sl. --n. 1 a policeman. 2 Brit. a capture or arrest (it's a fair cop). --v.tr. (copped, copping) 1 catch or arrest (an offender). 2 receive, suffer. 3 take, seize. Phrases and idioms: cop it 1 get into trouble; be punished. 2 be killed. cop out 1 withdraw; give up an attempt. 2 go back on a promise. 3 escape. cop-out n. 1 a cowardly or feeble evasion. 2 an escape; a way of escape. cop-shop a police station. not much (or no) cop Brit. of little or no value or use. Etymology: perh. f. obs. cap arrest f. OF caper seize f. L capere: (n.) cf. COPPER(2) 2. n. (in spinning) a conical ball of thread wound on a spindle. Etymology: OE cop summit

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cop Cop (k[o^]p), n. [AS. cop; cf. G. kopf head. Cf. Cup, Cob.] 1. The top of a thing; the head; a crest. [Obs.] Cop they used to call The tops of many hills. --Drayton. 2. A conical or conical-ended mass of coiled thread, yarn, or roving, wound upon a spindle, etc. 3. A tube or quill upon which silk is wound. 4. (Mil. Arch.) Same as Merlon. 5. A policeman. [Slang] Cop waste, a kind of cotton waste, composed chiefly of remnants of cops from which the greater part of the yarn has been unwound.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cops) A cop is a policeman or policewoman. (INFORMAL) Frank didn't like having the cops know where to find him. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Dogberry, John Law, abstract, and, annex, appropriate, bag, bluecoat, bobby, boost, borrow, bull, cabbage, clout, complex cone, cone, conelet, conoid, copper, cornet, crib, defraud, dick, embezzle, extort, filch, flatfoot, flattie, funnel, fuzz, gendarme, gumshoe, heat, hook, ice-cream cone, lift, make off with, man, nab, nip, officer, palm, peeler, pig, pilfer, pinch, pine cone, poach, purloin, run away with, rustle, scrounge, shamus, shoplift, snare, snatch, snitch, steal, swindle, swipe, take, the cops, the fuzz, the law, thieve, walk off with