51Թ

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View synonyms for

swoop

[ swoop ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey.
  2. to come down upon something in a sudden, swift attack (often followed by down and on or upon ):

    The army swooped down on the town.



verb (used with object)

  1. to take, lift, scoop up, or remove with or as with one sweeping motion (often followed by up, away, or off ):

    He swooped her up in his arms.

noun

  1. an act or instance of swooping; a sudden, swift descent.

    Synonyms: , , ,

swoop

/ ɳː /

verb

  1. intr; usually foll by down, on, or upon to sweep or pounce suddenly
  2. tr; often foll by up, away, or off to seize or scoop suddenly
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act of swooping
  2. a swift descent
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of swoop1

1535–45; variant (with close ō ) of Middle English swopen, Old English to sweep 1; cognate with German schweifen
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of swoop1

Old English to sweep; related to Old High German sweifan to swing around, Old Norse sveipa to throw
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Idioms and Phrases

  1. at / in one fell swoop, all at once or all together, as if by one blow:

    The quake flattened the houses at one fell swoop.

More idioms and phrases containing swoop

see one fell swoop .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

It is estimated that the bird of prey had swooped on at least 50 people since early March, drawing blood from several victims.

From

Flamstead Parish Council said a falconer had been brought into the Hertfordshire village to try and catch the bird of prey which had been swooping at residents for several weeks.

From

An entire community, many of them low income and Latino, are poised to lose their jobs and homes in one fell swoop.

From

O’Mara sees those beliefs very much in evidence at Musk’s fancifully named Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and his wrecking-ball efforts to raze huge swaths of the federal government in a single, unfettered swoop.

From

The wreck of a World War Two ship famously rests in its deeper waters where the Arctic Terns swoop for fish.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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