cop a plea

verb (used with object), copped, cop·ping. Informal.

to catch; nab.

to steal; filch.

to buy (narcotics).

Verb phrases

cop out,

to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out (often followed by on or of ): He never copped out on a friend in need. You agreed to go, and you can't cop out now.

cop a plea.

Idioms

cop a plea,

to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence.

to plead guilty to a lesser charge as a means of bargaining one's way out of standing trial for a more serious charge; plea-bargain.

Origin:
1695–1705; compare cap (obsolete) to arrest, Scots cap to seize ≪ dialectal Old French caper to take, ultimately < Latin capere

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To cop a plea

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Cop a plea is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

cop¹ (kɒp)

—n
1.	another name for policeman
2.	(Brit) an arrest (esp in the phrase a fair cop)
3.	an instance of plagiarism

—vb , cops, copping, copped
4.	to seize or catch
5.	to steal
6.	Compare score to buy, steal, or otherwise obtain (illegal drugs)
7.	Also: cop it to suffer (a punishment): you'll cop a clout if you do that!
8.	slang (Austral) cop it sweet
	a. to accept a penalty without complaint
	b. to have good fortune

[C18: (vb) perhaps from obsolete cap to arrest, from Old French caper to seize; sense 1, back formation from copper²]

cop² (kɒp)

—n
1.	a conical roll of thread wound on a spindle
2.	dialect chiefly the top or crest, as of a hill

[Old English cop, copp top, summit, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Old English coppcup]

cop³ (kɒp)

—n
	slang (Brit) (usually used with a negative) worth or value: that work is not much cop

[C19: n use of cop¹ (in the sense: to catch, hence something caught, something of value)]

COP

—*abbreviation for*
	Certificate of Proficiency: a pass in a university subject

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

cop

1704, northern British dialect, "to seize, to catch," perhaps from M.Fr. caper "seize, to take," from L. capere "to take" (see capable); or from Du. kapen "to take," from O.Fris. capia "to buy."

cop

"policeman," 1859, abbreviation of earlier copper (1846), from cop (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

cop definition

tv.
to take or steal something. (Originally underworld.) : Somebody copped the statue from the town square.
n.
a theft. (Underworld.) : They pulled the cop in broad daylight.
n.
a police officer. (From sense 1.) : The cop wasn't in any mood to put up with any monkey business.
tv.
to arrest someone. (See also copped.) : They copped Sam with the evidence right on him.
n.
an arrest. : It was a smooth cop. No muss, no fuss.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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cop a plea definition

tv.
to plead guilty to a lesser charge. : Rocko copped a plea and got off with a week in the slammer.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

COP

coefficient of performance
Colombiaâpeso

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

cop a plea

Plead guilty or confess to a crime in exchange for a lighter sentence; also, plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for not being tried for a more serious charge. For example, Arnold decided he was better off copping a plea than facing a jury. [Colloquial; 1920s]
Plead for mercy; make excuses. For example, He copped a plea about not knowing his way around. [Slang; c. 1940]

Matching Quote

"A great deal of unnecessary worry is indulged in by theatregoers trying to understand what Bernard Shaw means. They are not satisfied to listen to a pleasantly written scene in which three or four clever people say clever things, but they need to purse their lips and scowl a little and debate as to whether Shaw meant the lines to be an attack on monogamy as an institution or a plea for manual training in the public school system."

-Robert Benchley

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