cop on
UK/kɒp ɒn/
cop on noun: common sense.
Noun
cop on
- Common sense.
- That eejit has no cop on.
- While she is right that some cyclists do cycle in a dangerous manner, pedestrians need to have some "cop on" as well.2008, Joseph Dolan, "Hazards caused by pedestrians" (letter to the editor), Irish Independent, 22 November 2008
Verb
cop on (third-person singular simple present cops on, present participle copping on, simple past and past participle copped on)
- To stop behaving immaturely; behave, grow up.
- You'll get in trouble with the boss if you don't cop on.
- Drink, drink and more drink. Ulster Bank, College Green, was filled with sore heads for the entire month of the world cup. I knew it was time to start copping on when my housemate, O'Dea, who was a much harder drinker than I ever was, said to me, 'Jaysus, I was fierce worried about you during the...2006, Johnny Fallon, Party Time: Growing Up in Politics, Mercier Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 110
- To come to understand; twig, cotton on.
Forms of cop on
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | cop-on |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | cops on |
| present participle | copping on |
| past participle | copped on |
| past | copped on |
Questions about cop on
- What does cop on mean?
- Cop on means common sense.
- What part of speech is cop on?
- Cop on can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce cop on?
- Cop on is pronounced /kɒp ɒn/ (UK).
Words near cop on in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cop on (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-cop on.ogg.
Cite this entry: “cop on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cop_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.