EN

Synonyms for cop

38 synonyms
3 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

snitch filch prig arrest nab ride fang

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Snitch

snitch, steal, thieve, hook, snatch, nip, swipe, glom informal, filch, prig

2. Nab

nab, arrest, collar, apprehend, nail

Other

take, ride, flat-foot, pinch, fang

Noun

1. Policeman

policeman, police officer, police, fuzz, gendarme, copper slang, bull slang US, pig slang, bobby slang UK, peeler slang UK, bluecoat dated

Other

lawman, prison guard, knock-off, pick-up, spider, merlin, gavver slang UK

Definitions

v. 1
To capture or arrest someone.
v. 2
To obtain, to purchase (items including but not limited to drugs), to get hold of, to take.
n. 1
A police officer or prison guard.

Related words

Word family: cop-out copper
Phrases: cop-out cop it cop on death by cop suicide by cop grammar cop cop a feel cop a plea

Forms

Plural: cops → policemen, fuzzes, gendarmes, coppers…
Past participle: copped
e.g. copped → snitched, thieved, hooked, snatched…

Example sentences

snitch Flavio warned Rima not to snitch on him.
filch When I was a kid, I used to filch candy bars all the time.
prig If you often think of yourself as a saint, you may simply be a prig.
arrest You're under arrest for the murder of Tom Jackson.
nab Slow down. Cops like to nab people up there.
ride Can you give me a ride to the office on Wednesday?

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
cop		rising
snitch		rising
filch		steady
prig		steady
arrest		steady
nab		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: pig¹, nip¹, nab¹
4 letters: take¹, ride¹, hook¹, bull¹, nail¹, fang¹, fuzz¹, prig¹, glom
5 letters: steal¹, bobby², pinch¹, swipe¹, filch¹
6 letters: police², arrest², copper², spider², collar², snatch¹, merlin², snitch¹, peeler², lawman², thieve¹, gavver
8 letters: gendarme², bluecoat
9 letters: policeman³, apprehend³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bobby² = 2 syllables).