Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US, colloquial The police (force).

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

By shortening and reduplication from police.

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Examples

  • “Shawty got jokes…tryna use my phone to call po-po.”

    Stealing Candy Allison Hobbs 2010

  • “Shawty got jokes…tryna use my phone to call po-po.”

    Stealing Candy Allison Hobbs 2010

  • And now there's a narrator's dulcet tones suggesting that Turgoose is not a disco Asbo on the run from the po-po.

    The Hard Sell: Coca-Cola 2011

  • Yes | No | Report from chuck slusser wrote 24 weeks 5 days ago pic. #50 now that is a large bear ... not to po-po on her parade, but that child could not have made the shot needed with a rifle that is as large as she ..

    The Best Reader Photos of July 2009 2009

  • There are certainly parts of the south — esp. newer residential areas, the kind that prefer an extra six feet of uninterrupted lawn to sidewalks — where walking for more than a few minutes may result in the po-po driving by to check up on you.

    Matthew Yglesias » The American Urban Paradox 2010

  • Yes | No | Report from chuck slusser wrote 24 weeks 5 days ago pic. #50 now that is a large bear ... not to po-po on her parade, but that child could not have made the shot needed with a rifle that is as large as she ..

    The Best Reader Photos of July 2009 2009

  • July 16th, 2009 11: 06 am ET spell check on myself: "evidenced" not "evedenced", before th spell po-po gets me! citizenjane

    CIA claims disputed program was 'never fully operational' 2009

  • Go to any college town and see how the upscale stoners in the frathouses get treated by the po-po.

    Matthew Yglesias » Hispanics and Crime 2010

  • Hip-hop neologisms have appeared, like "po-po" for police.

    Are You a Bridezilla? Check the OED Andrew Flynn 2010

  • Will there be a new podium race to become the 49th commenter, thus avoiding arrest by the comment board po-po?

    BSNYC Friday Fun-Tastic Burrito of Questions! BikeSnobNYC 2010

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