[f. COPE v.3 + -ING1.] Bargaining. Now only in reference to horse-coping = horse-dealing: cf. COPER1.
1595. Maroccus Ext., 11. I knowe a man that … solde but three yardes of satten unto a gentleman, and forswore himself at least three times in the coping.
1613. F. Robarts, Revenue of Gospel, 104. Alasse, alasse, segging is no good coping.
1864. Lond. Rev., 18 June, 643. Amongst the mysteries of horse-flesh is the noble science of coping, and its practitioners the horse-copers. These individuals practise fraud as a trade.
1876. World, V. 18. Skilled in the thousand-and-one devices of coping.
