From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcooptco‧opt (also co-opt British English) /kəʊˈɒpt $ koʊˈɑːpt/ verb [transitive] formal 1 SSOJOIN AN ORGANIZATION British English to make someone a member of a group, committee etc, by the agreement of all the members The committee may co-opt additional members for special purposes.coopt somebody onto/into/to something She was coopted onto the county education committee.2 INCLUDEto persuade someone to help or support youcoopt somebody to do something Social scientists were co-opted to work with the development agencies. Nan was coopted into the kitchen to make pastry.→ See Verb table