v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Coped p. pr. & vb. n. Coping. ] [ OE. copen, coupen, to buy, bargain, prob. from D. koopen to buy, orig., to bargain. See Cheap. ] 1. To exchange or barter. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To encounter; to meet; to have to do with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man
As e'er my conversation coped withal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To enter into or maintain a hostile contest; to struggle; to combat; especially, to strive or contend on equal terms or with success; to match; to equal; -- usually followed by with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Host coped with host, dire was the din of war. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their generals have not been able to cope with the troops of Athens. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A doublet of cape. See Cape, Cap. ] 1. A covering for the head. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything regarded as extended over the head, as the arch or concave of the sky, the roof of a house, the arch over a door. “The starry cope of heaven.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An ecclesiastical vestment or cloak, semicircular in form, reaching from the shoulders nearly to the feet, and open in front except at the top, where it is united by a band or clasp. It is worn in processions and on some other occasions. Piers plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

A hundred and sixty priests all in their copes. Bp. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An ancient tribute due to the lord of the soil, out of the lead mines in Derbyshire, England. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Founding) The top part of a flask or mold; the outer part of a loam mold. Knight. De Colange. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. (Falconry) To pare the beak or talons of (a hawk). J. H. Walsh. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To bargain for; to buy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make return for; to requite; to repay. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

three thousand ducats due unto the Jew,
We freely cope your courteous pains withal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To match one's self against; to meet; to encounter. [ 1913 Webster ]

I love to cope him in these sullen fits. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

They say he yesterday coped Hector in the battle, and struck him down. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To form a cope or arch; to bend or arch; to bow. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Some bending down and coping toward the earth. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A narrow chisel adapted for cutting a groove. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Russ. kopeika ] A Russian copper coin. See Kopeck. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Clad in a cope. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; a rower. ] (Zool.) See Larvalla. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. koopman, fr. koopen to buy. See Cope, v. i. Chapman. ] A chapman; a dealer; a merchant. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He would have sold his part of paradise
For ready money, had he met a copeman. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]