Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Cop for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Cop" — noun, pronounced /kɒp/, with the stress on "cop".
Narrator: A cop is an informal word for a police officer.
Narrator: In plain English, a copper.
Narrator: It probably comes from the verb cop, to seize, possibly from Latin capere, to take.
Narrator: A common collocation is "a traffic cop", which describes an officer handling motorists.
Narrator: It differs from "police officer", because cop is informal and best kept out of formal writing.
Narrator: In a second sense, the British verb "cop it" means to get into trouble or receive punishment.
Narrator: Crime fiction, film, journalism and everyday speech rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: cop is informal for police officer, and to cop is to catch.
Speaker A: Why are police called cops?
Speaker B: Because they COP, or catch, criminals! Possibly from Latin capere, to take.
Speaker A: Is it rude?
Speaker B: Just informal.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "A cop stopped the traffic", everyday. "It's a classic cop drama", television. "You'll cop it if you're late", British slang.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Avoid cop in formal reports, and double the p in "copped" and "copping".
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Copper is its cousin, officer its twin, and bobby an alternative — yet cop keeps its gritty charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "cop" in AI prompts — useful for script writing and tone editing.
Speaker A: How for scripts?
Speaker B: Dialogue.
Prompt: Write a short scene between two cops on a rainy night patrol.
Speaker A: And tone?
Speaker B: Formality.
Prompt: Replace informal words like cop with formal terms in this incident report.
Speaker A: Could it help games?
Speaker B: Yes, for characters.
Prompt: Design a friendly cop character who gives players hints.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Classification.
Prompt: Tag films in this catalogue that belong to the cop drama genre.
Cop — meaning in Arabic & definition More C courses GL Dictionary