coper1
/ˈkəʊpə
/(also horse-coper)
noun archaic
A horse-dealer.On the commons and in the fields outside the town, wandering folk of all descriptions - gypsies, ‘hawkers, tinkers, fortune-tellers, horse-copers, and ragamuffins - took up their abode....
- The working lives of late 19 th- and early 20 th-century shoemakers, horse-copers, lace-makers and milliners are resurrected for us.
- They were a queer folk, silent and self-contained, and keeping very much to themselves - odd-tempered at times - decent on the whole, for they never produced a drunkard - wonderful horse-breakers and horse-copers and dog - trainers and poachers - relics of an earlier England.
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Middle English cope 'buy', from Dutch, Low German kōpen; related to German kaufen, also to cheap.
Rhymes
coper2
/ˈkəʊpə/ /ˈkəʊpə /noun
A person who deals effectively with difficult situations: Emma was always going to be fine. She was one of life’s copers...
- Once upon a time, nannies were the carers and the copers for middle-class families whose parents had opted out.
- "Usually he's incredibly positive, a coper."
- Those oldest old are optimistic, committed to something interesting, are actively mobile, and good copers with life.