fair cop

fair cop (plural fair cops)

1. A justifiable or reasonable capture or apprehension; also, broadly, a just or inescapable accusation.
   • 1891, Montagu Stephen Williams, Later Leaves: Being the Further Reminiscences of Montagu Williams, Q. C., Macmillan and Co.:

     "Several other witnesses gave corroborative evidence, and a constable who helped to arrest the prisoners stated that one of them, on being taken into custody, said: 'Ah, well, this is a fair cop.'"

   • 1900, William Pett Ridge, A Breaker of Laws, Harper & Brothers:

     "'A fair cop,' murmured Ladd feebly. 'I give in, mister; it's a fair cop.'"

   • 1919, George Bernard Shaw, Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, and Playlets of the War, Brentano's:

     "No, by thunder! It was not a fair cop. We were four to one."

   • 1999, Diana Gabaldon, The Outlandish Companion, Delacorte Press:

     "Okay, it's a fair cop. Claire's not a Bible scholar, and neither am I. It wasn't Gideon, it was Jephthah (Judges 12)."