English Reference
Idiom idiom

cop on

Meaning

Common sense.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples
SIMPLE

“You need to show some cop on when crossing the street.”

CONTEXTUAL

“If you had any cop on, you would have locked the door before leaving the house.”

COMPLEX

“The situation required a level of cop on that the inexperienced manager simply failed to demonstrate during the crisis.”

Anchors to
Related idioms4entries
  1. 01

    cop a flower pot

    [Cockney slang]cop it hot

  2. 02

    cop one's whack

    To die.

  3. 03

    cop oneself on

    to cop on, stop behaving immaturely

  4. 04

    cop out

    To avoid or shirk, either by failing to perform, or by performing in a grossly insufficient, negligent, or superficial manner.

Last updated August 10, 2026