Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A failure to fulfill a commitment or responsibility or to face a difficulty squarely.
- noun A person who fails to fulfill a commitment or responsibility.
- noun An excuse for inaction or evasion.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic
Avoidance orinadequate performance of atask orduty ; theaction ofcopping out . - noun idiomatic An
excuse made in order to avoid performing a task or duty; areason offered when someone cops out. - noun idiomatic A
person who cops out.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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CNN could have easily taken the mealy mouth, tap dance around, cop-out way out and suspended him with a reprimand, and a stern warning that any repeat pop off and he'd be out.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: The GOP and Tea Party Can Learn Something from CNN's Sanchez Firing Earl Ofari Hutchinson 2010
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"They're not for me, I don't want to share personal experiences with a bunch of strangers, I'm not like them, I know more than they do, I've learned all that, or I can do it on my own" is just a handful of cop-out excuses they rely on.
Carole Bennett, MA: Does Your Loved One Display Classic Addictive Behavior? MA Carole Bennett 2011
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There wasn't reform when the economy was good, so that's just a cop-out and a lame excuse.
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CNN could have easily taken the mealy mouth, tap dance around, cop-out way out and suspended him with a reprimand, and a stern warning that any repeat pop off and he'd be out.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: The GOP and Tea Party Can Learn Something from CNN's Sanchez Firing Earl Ofari Hutchinson 2010
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"The cop-out is to say this is all priced in, but I think the market will react," said Brian Gendreau, investment strategist at Cetera Financial Group.
S&P Move Isn't a Shock but Adds to Gloom E.S. Browning 2011
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It's a feeble-minded cop-out to blame this explosion on the South. pkb
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Asleep: A cop-out term used to explain why a heavily favored team fell behind early and lost e.g.
The True Meaning of College Football Darren Everson 2011
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Presenting poverty, war, or illiteracy as reasons for this high corruption within Muslim countries would be a cop-out.
Faheem Younus: Confronting Corruption In The Muslim World Faheem Younus 2011
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And this whole boo-hoo the national media is trying to take me down BS and there is a "Full court press to get me" is ridiculous and a cop-out!!!!
First on the Ticker: Palin will not run for re-election 2009
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CNN could have easily taken the mealy mouth, tap dance around, cop-out way out and suspended him with a reprimand, and a stern warning that any repeat pop off and he'd be out.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: The GOP and Tea Party Can Learn Something from CNN's Sanchez Firing Earl Ofari Hutchinson 2010
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