WordWeb Online

1. Choose or elect as a fellow member or colleague
   "The church members co-opted individuals from similar backgrounds to replenish the congregation"
    
2. Neutralize or win over through assimilation into an established group
   "We co-opted the independent minority tribes by pulling them into the Northern Alliance"
    
3. Appoint summarily or commandeer
   "The army tried to co-opt peasants into civil defence groups"
    
4. Take or assume for one's own use
   "He co-opted the criticism and embraced it"

Derived forms: co-opted, co-opting, co-opts

Type of: accept, appoint, constitute, elect, name, neutralise [Brit], neutralize, nominate, take

Encyclopedia: Co-opt