copper:

(plural: ‘coppers‘; pronunciation: the letter ‘c’ is said with a ‘k’ sound)

Apart from other meanings/definitions…

(less commonly used for) a police officer; a cop,

British coppers on patrol

e.g.

Peter’s girlfriend ditched him when she came to know that he was a copper in the drug enforcement police department.

Though the terms ‘cop’ and ‘copper’ are considered offensive, these terms are gradually becoming accepted by not only the criminals but also the newspapers and TV channels.

It’s fun to read newspaper or the Internet news cast headlines which speak of “copper arrests copper thief”, “coppers get wire on copper wire theft” or “a team of coppers unearth a chest of coppers (copper coins)”, and so on. (the first ‘copper’ in each headline refers to ‘police’ and the second copper refers to ‘copper metal’)

For an article on how this word is related to a policeman, please click here, to see how this word ‘copper’ is used by the British in relation to a policeman, please click here, for another news item that has ‘cooper’ for police officers in its headlines, please click here, and for an item of news that too has ‘copper’ in reference to the police in its headlines, please click here.

(a copper metal kettle)

A more common meaning is a kind of metal in red-brownish colour that is a good conductor of electricity, with the symbol ‘Cu’, and also the reddish-brown colour, e.g. ‘copper wire’, ‘copper plates’, ‘copper stole’ as in “She wore a dark green dress and a copper stole.”, ‘copper sulphate curtains’, etc.

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

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