coop (kūp)
n.

1. An enclosure or cage, as for poultry or small animals.
2. Slang.
   1. An uncomfortably confined space.
   2. A prison.

v., cooped, coop·ing, coops.

v.tr.
To confine in or as if in a coop. Often used with up. See synonyms at enclose.

v.intr. Informal
To sleep or shirk in a parked patrol car while on duty. Used of a police officer.

idiom:

fly (or blow) the coop

1. To make a getaway; escape.

[Middle English coupe, possibly from Middle Dutch kūpe, basket, tub, from Germanic *kūpōn, possibly from Latin cūpa, cask.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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