I. cope 1 S2 W3 /kəʊp $ koʊp/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: cope 'to fight, keep fighting without giving up' (14-19 centuries) , from Old French couper 'to hit, cut' , from coup ; ⇨ ↑ coup ]
1 . to succeed in dealing with a difficult problem or situation:
Sometimes I find it hard to cope.
He coped quite well as manager while still captaining the team.
cope with
She feared she wouldn’t be able to cope with two new babies.
Local authorities have to cope with the problems of homelessness.
2 . if a system or machine copes with a particular type or amount of work, it does it
cope with
No system is designed to cope with the floods we have had this year.
My computer can cope with huge amounts of data.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ can/can't cope
Older people can't cope so well with the heat.
▪ be able/unable to cope
Some young mothers feel that they aren't able to cope on their own.
▪ struggle to cope
Hospital wards are struggling to cope with the injured.
▪ learn to cope
In this job, you'll have to learn to cope with pressure.
■ adverbs
▪ cope well
Most schools coped well with the change.
▪ cope easily
The exam was tough but she coped easily.
▪ cope successfully
Careful planning will help you to cope successfully.
▪ cope admirably
She coped admirably with a very demanding schedule.
■ phrases
▪ it is difficult/hard to cope
We were finding it difficult to cope financially.
▪ somebody's ability to cope
The bears' survival will depend on their ability to cope with a changing environment.
▪ a way of coping
Working hard was a way of coping with his grief.
▪ coping skills
We help people learn coping skills to deal with these pressures.
▪ a coping strategy (=a way of coping with something)
Some people use humour as a coping strategy.
II. cope 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Medieval Latin ; Origin: capa , from Late Latin cappa ; ⇨ ↑ CAP 1 ]
a long loose piece of clothing worn by priests on special occasions