cop on
• become aware of something.
• "she never copped on—you've no idea of the guilt I went through"
cop
noun
• a police officer.
• "a cop in a patrol car gave chase"
Similar:
police officer,
policeman,
policewoman,
officer of the law,
law-enforcement officer/agent,
officer,
constable,
patrolman,
trooper,
roundsman,
peace officer,
kotwal,
gendarme,
jack,
uniform,
copper,
bobby,
rozzer,
busy,
bizzy,
plod,
PC Plod,
bear,
walloper,
demon,
flic,
flatfoot,
bogey,
flattie,
woodentop,
pig,
peeler,
runner,
bluebottle,
finger,
the police,
the police force,
the forces of law and order,
the constabulary,
the law,
the fuzz,
the boys in blue,
the long arm of the law,
the (Old) Bill,
the force,
the heat,
the filth,
Babylon,
• shrewdness; practical intelligence.
• "he had the cop-on to stay clear of Hugh Thornley"
Origin:
early 18th century (as a verb): perhaps from obsolete cap ‘arrest’, from Old French caper ‘seize’, from Latin capere . The noun is from copper2.
