–verb (used with object), copped, cop⋅ping.Informal.
1.
to catch; nab.
2.
to steal; filch.
3.
to buy (narcotics).
—Verb phrase
4.
cop out,
a.
to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out (often fol. by on or of): He never copped out on a friend in need. You agreed to go, and you can't cop out now.
b.
cop a plea.
—Idiom
5.
cop a plea,
a.
to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence.
b.
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; cf. cap (obs.) to arrest, Scots cap to seize ≪ dial. OF caper to take, ult. < L capere
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]
[kop] 
