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Cop vs Constabulary - What's the difference?

cop | constabulary |

As nouns the difference between cop and constabulary

is that cop is plait, braid (of hair) while constabulary is a police force.

As an adjective constabulary is

of, or relating to constables.

cop

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) coppe, from (etyl) . More at (l).

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) A spider.

    • Etymology 2

    Possibly from (etyl) , from (etyl) kapia, to buy.

    Verb

    (copp)
  • to obtain, to purchase (as in drugs), to get hold of, to take
  • * 2005 , Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home , Simon & Schuster, page 10:
    • Heroin appeared on the streets of our town for the first time, and Innie watched helplessly as his sixteen-year-old brother began taking the train to Harlem to cop smack.
  • to (be forced to) take; to receive; to shoulder; to bear, especially blame or punishment for a particular instance of wrongdoing.
    • When caught, he would often cop a vicious blow from his father
  • to steal
  • to adopt
    • No need to cop an attitude with me, junior.
  • to admit, especially to a crime.
    • I already copped to the murder. What else do you want from me?
    Harold copped to being known as "Dirty Harry".
  • *
    • Derived terms
    * cop a feel * cop a plea * cop off * cop on * cop out, cop-out

    Etymology 3

    Short for above, i.e. a criminal.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (slang, law enforcement) A police officer or prison guard.
    • Synonyms
    * See also

    Etymology 4

    (etyl) cop, copp, from (etyl) . Cognate with Dutch kop, German Kopf.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (crafts) The ball of thread wound on to the spindle in a spinning machine.
  • (obsolete) The top, summit, especially of a hill.
  • * Drayton
    • Cop they used to call / The tops of many hills.
  • (obsolete) The head.
  • A tube or quill upon which silk is wound.
  • (architecture, military) A merlon.

    • Anagrams

    *

    References

    *

    See also

    * not much cop ----

    constabulary

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Of, or relating to constables.
  • Characteristic to police; police-like (as opposed to military)
    • Constabulary missions are different from fighting wars.

    Synonyms

    * constabular

    Noun

  • A police force.
  • The police in a particular district or area.
  • *, chapter=22
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.

    Usage notes

    Constabulary is a collective noun and usually has no plural. Only when describing groups of constabularies is it used in the plural sense. For example, the constabularies of England and Wales form part of the constabulary of the United Kingdom.