American Heritage Dictionary Entry: cop HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com cop 1 (kŏp) Share: Tweet n. Informal 1. A police officer. 2. One that regulates certain behaviors or actions: "Faced with the world recession of the early 1980s, ... the World Bank ... became a stern economic taskmaster and cop" (Richard J. Barnet). [Short for COPPER2.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. cop 2 (kŏp) Slang Share: Tweet tr.v. copped, cop·ping, cops 1. a. To get hold of; gain or win: a show that copped four awards; copped a ticket to the game. b. To perceive by one of the senses: "copped a quick look at the gentleman ... on the right" (Gail Sheehy). 2. To take unlawfully or without permission; steal.Phrasal Verb: cop out To avoid fulfilling a commitment or responsibility; renege: copped out on my friends; copped out by ducking the issue.Idioms: cop a feel To fondle someone sexually in a surreptitious way. cop a plea To plead guilty to a lesser charge so as to avoid standing trial for a more serious charge. [Probably variant of cap, to catch, from Old French caper, from Latin capere; see CAPTURE.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. cop 3 (kŏp) Share: Tweet n. 1. A cone-shaped or cylindrical roll of yarn or thread wound on a spindle. 2. Chiefly British A summit or crest, as of a hill. [Middle English, summit, from Old English.] (click for a larger image)cop3 The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Cop. Share: Tweet abbr. Coptic The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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