subs. (common).—A policeman. [From COP, verb, sense 1.] For synonyms, see BEAK, sense 1, and COPPER.
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon. ‘A Hundred Stretches Hence,’ 124.
| Oh! where will be the culls of the bing … | |
| And all the COPS and beaks so knowin’, | |
| A hundred stretches hence? |
1879. Punch, 3 May, p. 201, col. 1.
| I suppose if the Toffs took a fancy for chewing a stror or a twig, | |
| Like a tout or a hostler, or tumbled to carryin’ a bludgeon as big | |
| As a crib-cracker’s nobby persuader, Pall Mall would be jolly soon gay | |
| With blue-blooded blokes a green COP might mistake for foot-pads on the lay. |
Verb (common).—1. To seize; steal; catch; take an unfair advantage in a bet or bargain. [COP has been associated with the root of the Latin cap-io, to seize, to snatch; also with the Gypsy kap or cop = to take; Scotch kep; and Gallic ceapan. Probably, however, its true radix is to be found in the Hebrew cop = a hand or palm. Low-class Jews employ the term, and understand it to refer to the act of snatching.]
[COP like CHUCK (q.v.), is a sort of general utility verb. Thus to COP THE NEEDLE = to get angry; to COP THE BULLET or THE DOOR = to get the sack; to COP IT HOT = to be severely clapped; to COP IT (said of women) = to be got with child; and to COP THE BREWER = to be drunk.]
1864. Manchester Courier, 13 June. ‘Copper’ … a slang name for a policeman derived from COP, which is a well known and generally used vulgarism for ‘catch.’
1879. J. W. HORSLEY, ‘Autobiography of a Thief,’ in Macmillan’s Magazine, XL., 500. I was taken by two pals (companions) to an orchard to COP (steal) some fruit.
1883. Punch, 29 Sept., p. 146, col. 2.
| ‘Bill’s not such a fool as you think; | |
| He ’ll ‘COP’ my truncheon, pat, | |
| Jam the whistle into my mouth, | |
| And stretch the Peeler flat.’ |
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon’s Straight Tip to all Cross Coves. Booze and the blowens COP the lot.
2. trs. and intrs. (thieves’).—To arrest; imprison; betray; ensnare.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS. To give the clinch; to make one kiss the clink; to accommodate; to nobble; to bag; to box; to fist (old); to scoop; to take up; to victimize; to run in; to give or get one the boat; to buckle; to smug; to nab; to collar; to pinch; to nail; to rope in; to snake; to pull up.
FRENCH SYNONYMS. Empioler (thieves’); tomber au plan (thieves’ = to be apprehended); étre mis au plan (thieves’ = to be imprisoned); enfourailler (thieves’); bâcler or boucler (thieves’: literally to buckle, put a ring to); bloquer (military: properly to blockade); étre le bon (popular = to be arrested; also to be the right man); boulotter de or coucher à la boîte (military = to get frequently locked up. La grosse boîte = a prison; boîte aux refléxions = a prison cell); mettre quelqu’un dans la blouse (familiar = to ‘pocket,’ as at billiards); se faire cuire (popular = to be arrested); clouer (popular: clou = guard-room or cell); coller au bloc (popular: coller is properly to stick, as with glue, but in a slang sense it carries the meaning of to place or put; bloc = prison); piper (familiar); poisser (popular and thieves’); grimer (popular); coquer (thieves’: also, to peach or inform); enflacquer (thieves’); mettre or fourrer dedans (familiar: literally to put inside); mettre à l’ombre (common: literally to put in the shade); mettre au violon (popular: see violon under CAGE); grappiner (popular); poser un gluau (thieves’ = to lime, as in snaring birds); empoigner (popular = to fist; possibly a dictionary word); piger (popular); emballer (popular and thieves’; properly to pack up); gripper (this has passed into the language); encoffrer (popular = to ‘box up’); encager (familiar = to cage); accrocher (properly to hook); ramasser de la boîte (military: also ramasser quelqu’un and se faire remasser); souffler (thieves’); faire tomber malade (popular = to make one ill); agrafer (literally to hook or clasp; avoir son linge lavé (thieves’ = to have one’s linen washed).
GERMAN SYNONYMS.—Bekaan scheften (from the Hebrew kaan); im Kühlen sitzen (literally to sit in the cold. Cf., Fr., mettre à l’ombre); krank werden (literally to fall ill; equivalent to the Fr. faire tomber malade); ins Leck baun (Viennese thieves’. M.H.G. luken = to lock up); millek sein (to be imprisoned); trefe fallen (to be apprehended under grave circumstances; e.g., with burglar’s instruments or stolen goods); versargen (to imprison for a long time); abfassen (students’ slang); ankappen (popular colloquialism); klemmen (M.H.G. klembern = to press heavily); taffen, tofesnehmen, tofes lokechnen, or tofes lekichnen (from the Hebrew topkas); vercheweln, vercheifeln or verheifeln (from the Hebrew chobal; also to bind or gag).
