Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also cop to) to confess, to own up to, to admit; to accuse a third party.

1968–70		Current Sl. III–IV (Cumulation Issue) 30: Cop, v. To admit something.
1974		G.F. Newman You Flash Bastard 157: Those Paks copped for the lot, must’ve cleared up every reported case of dipping we’ve had.
1980		T. Lewis GBH 233: ‘Mickey done it, Mickey copped for you. He did, he did, he copped for you’.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 46/1: cop it (also cop to) v. to accept, handle, deal with a situation.
2004		J. Ellroy ‘Hot-Prowl Rape-O’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 314: ‘What’s with the confessing? Tell us about that.’ [...] ‘I copped to all the big snuffs. You name it, I copped to it [...] It was my thing back in the old days.’.
2017		A. Parks Bloody January 193: ‘Isabel Garvey [i.e. a murder victim]. Just had Eastern on the phone. Someone’s copped for it’.
2021		T. Swerdlow Straight Dope [ebook] Once Angie had copped to her lie about the ring, she couldn’t get out of that gallery fast enough.

2. to obtain.

1971		N. Smith Gumshoe (1998) 163: ‘My time in America wasn’t entirely wasted,’ she said. ‘That where you copped for the phoney accent?’.
2001		K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 58: When they copped for a bundle they always boxed JPB off, too.

3. to attack physically.

1973

T. Lewis Billy Rags [ebook] [I] whirled round quick as if I was going to cop for him.

4. to have a relationship with.

1999

K. Sampson Powder 23: Simon Le Bon for God’s sake, a provincial tubby if ever there was one, managed to cop for Yasmin Pervanneh off the hair adverts.

5. to make a successful seduction.

1999

Guardian Sport Apr. 16: I’ll be right there as soon as I’ve told me mates I’ve copped for it.

6. to claim.

2000

J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 251: I bet he had double-bubble sometimes, copped for the reward-money as well.