rent-a-cop

noun

A private security guard, usually one regarded as inferior to and less skilled than an actual law enforcement officer.

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Meanings

nounrent-a-cop (plural rent-a-cops)

plural rent-a-cops · alternative rentacop

  1. colloquialderogatoryA private security guard, usually one regarded as inferior to and less skilled than an actual law enforcement officer.

    “What got into you tonight? Why'd you pull that scene at the arcade? I had to mess up this rentacop^([sic]) came after me with nunchucks.”

    1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 24

Origin

From rent-a- + cop, modelled after the brand name Rent-a-Car.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

rent-a-cop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rent-a-cop

MLA

“rent-a-cop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rent-a-cop. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rent-a-cop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rent-a-cop.

Source: rent-a-cop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.