cope

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• intransitive verb To contend or strive, especially on even terms or with success.
• intransitive verb To contend with difficulties and act to overcome them.
• noun A long ecclesiastical vestment worn over an alb or surplice.
• noun A covering resembling a cloak or mantle.
• noun A coping.
• transitive verb To cover or dress in a cope.
• transitive verb To provide with coping.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A large outer garment; a cloak; a mantle.
• noun Eccles., a large mantle of silk or other material worn by priests or bishops over the alb or surplice in processions, at solemn lauds or matins, at benedictions, and on other occasions.
• noun In the University of Cambridge, England, the ermined robe worn by a doctor in the senate-house on Congregation day.
• noun Anything spread or extended over the head, as the arch or concave of the sky, the roof or covering of a house, or the arch over a door; specifically, in architecture, a coping.
• noun In founding, same as case, 10. See cut under flask.
• noun An ancient tribute due to the king or the lord of the soil out of the lead-mines in Derbyshire, England.
• noun See coper.
• To bargain for; buy.
• To make return for; reward.
• To bargain.
• To strive or contend on equal terms; meet in combat; oppose: often with a preceding negative or word of negative import, the verb then implying ‘oppose with success’: followed by with.
• To meet in contest or contention; oppose; encounter.
• In falconry, to cut, as the beak or talons of a hawk.
• To muzzle, as a ferret, by sewing or tying up its mouth.
• To provide with a cope or cloak; cover with a cloak; cloak.
• To cover as with a cope; furnish with a coping.
• In architecture, to form a cope or coping; bend as an arch or vault. The soffit of any projection is said to cope over when it slopes downward from the wall.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun obsolete A covering for the head.
• noun 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.
• noun 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.
• noun An ancient tribute due to the lord of the soil, out of the lead mines in Derbyshire, England.
• noun (Founding) The top part of a flask or mold; the outer part of a loam mold.
• intransitive verb obsolete To form a cope or arch; to bend or arch; to bow.
• transitive verb (Falconry) To pare the beak or talons of (a hawk).
• intransitive verb obsolete To exchange or barter.
• intransitive verb To encounter; to meet; to have to do with.
• intransitive verb 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.
• transitive verb obsolete To bargain for; to buy.
• transitive verb obsolete To make return for; to requite; to repay.
• transitive verb To match one's self against; to meet; to encounter.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb To deal effectively with something difficult.
• verb To cut and form a mitred joint in wood or metal.
• verb To clip the beak or talons of a bird.
• verb obsolete To bargain for; to buy.
• verb obsolete To make return for; to requite; to repay.
• verb obsolete To match oneself against; to meet; to encounter.
• noun A long, loose cloak worn by a priest or bishop on ceremonial occasions.
• noun Any covering such as a canopy or a mantle.
• noun The "vault" or "canopy" of the skies, heavens etc.
• noun construction A covering piece on top of a wall exposed to the weather, usually made of metal, masonry, or stone and sloped to carry off water.
• noun foundry The top part of a sand casting mold.
• verb To cover (a joint or structure) with coping.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a long cloak; worn by a priest or bishop on ceremonial occasions