Copped

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Caught or seized something physically or figuratively ; received or obtained something ; taken into custody or caught by authorities, often used in slang or informal contexts
2. To have gotten hold of an item or to capture someone ; to be given or assigned something ; to be apprehended or arrested, especially in informal speech
3. Having grabbed, snatched, or gotten something ; acquired or achieved something ; to have been arrested or detained, frequently used in casual or colloquial language

Etymology: Before it meant to be nabbed by the police, "cop" meant to seize or grab something, and "copped" is simply its past tense. The verb traces back to Middle English "copen," meaning "to buy," borrowed from Middle Dutch "copen," and the same root survives in West Frisian "keapje" and related Frisian forms, all pointing to an older Germanic word for trade and purchase. Over time the sense shifted from buying to taking hold of something. The noun "cop" for a police officer is short for "copper," from the verb in its older sense "to lay hold of," a reference to arresting criminals. A popular story claims the word stands for "Constable On Patrol," but that is a folk etymology with no basis, and the real source is the grabbing verb. Note: the "copped" in your entry follows this pattern: "copped" as "acquired" or "gotten" and "copped" as "arrested" both descend from the same grabbing sense, which is why one verb covers both meanings.

Synonyms: took, seized, grabbed, acquired, obtained

Antonyms: lost, relinquished, surrendered, gave away, forfeited