Wooden-top

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

• woodentop

Origin

The expression may be a reference to the wooden construction of a bobby's custodian helmet.

Full definition of wooden-top

Noun

1. (British, informal, idiomatic) A uniformed police officer.
• 1988, Derek Raymond, The Devil's Home on Leave, Ballantine Books, page 151:Immediately a big wooden-top came in. He was young and blond.
• 1991, Bill James, The Lolita Man, W. W. Norton & Company, page 41 http://books.google.com/books?id=bL00WuoADlcC&pg=PA41&dq=wooden-top+police&ei=NJJLR_CSOo6eswPvpMHdBg&sig=Oas93kDTANBV2VmXVCE97Pmddf0:It is Detective Chief Superintendent Cohn Harpur, one of the bosses, but just a wooden-top like all the rest.

Usage notes

Used by British police, Criminal Investigation Department detectives.

Synonyms

• (police officer) see