# coping

Pronunciation: say "KOHP-ing" US /ˈkoʊpɪŋ/, UK /ˈkəʊpɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The process of managing difficult circumstances, making an effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and working to reduce or tolerate stress and conflict.
   - Simple: The way a person deals with stress, problems, or hard times in life.
   - _Healthy coping involves both solving the problem and managing the emotions it stirs up._
   - _Researchers tracked coping among caregivers living under chronic stress._
3. The top course of a wall, especially a sloped layer of brick or stone designed to throw off rainwater.
   - Simple: The top layer of stone or brick on a wall, often sloped so rain runs off.
   - _The masons finished the boundary wall with a smooth stone coping._
   - _Rainwater drained cleanly off the sloping coping rather than down the wall face._
4. The clipping or trimming of a bird's beak or talons, especially in falconry, to keep them at their proper length.
   - Simple: The trimming of a bird's beak or claws to keep them at the right length.
   - _The falconer performed a careful coping on the eagle's overgrown talons._
   - _Coping is part of the routine care given to captive birds of prey._

## Verb

2. Present participle of cope. — present participle and gerund of cope
   - Simple: Present participle of cope. Use this -ing form when the action is happening right now.
   - _The team is coping with deep budget cuts this year._
   - _Many families are coping with sharply rising costs._

## Origin

From "cope" (in its second sense), used to mean "to dress in a cope" or "to cover."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/coping (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).