Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cope \Cope\, v. i.
   To form a cope or arch; to bend or arch; to bow. [Obs.]

         Some bending down and coping toward the earth.
                                                  --Holland.

Cope \Cope\, v. t. (Falconry)
   To pare the beak or talons of (a hawk). --J. H. Walsh.

Cope \Cope\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Coped} (k[=o]pt); 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.

   2. To encounter; to meet; to have to do with.

            Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man As e'er my
            conversation coped withal.            --Shak.

   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.

            Host coped with host, dire was the din of war.
                                                  --Philips.

            Their generals have not been able to cope with the
            troops of Athens.                     --Addison.

Cope \Cope\ (k[=o]p), n. [A doublet of cape. See {Cape}, {Cap}.]
   1. A covering for the head. [Obs.] --Johnson.

   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.

   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.

            A hundred and sixty priests all in their copes.
                                                  --Bp. Burnet.

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

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

Cope \Cope\, v. t.
   1. To bargain for; to buy. [Obs.]

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

            three thousand ducats due unto the Jew, We freely
            cope your courteous pains withal.     --Shak.

   3. To match one's self against; to meet; to encounter.

            I love to cope him in these sullen fits. --Shak.

            They say he yesterday coped Hector in the battle,
            and struck him down.                  --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

cope
     n : brick that is laid sideways at the top of a wall [syn: {header},
          {coping}]

cope
     v : come to terms or deal successfully with; "We got by on just
         a gallon of gas"; "They made do on half a loaf of bread
         every day" [syn: {get by}, {make out}, {make do}, {contend},
          {grapple}, {deal}, {manage}]