swoop

American  

[swoop] / swup /

verb (used without object)

swoops, present (3rd person singular) swooped, past participle, past swooping present participle

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 orupon ).

   The army swooped down on the town.

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verb (used with object)

swoops, present (3rd person singular) swooped, past participle, past swooping present participle

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

   He swooped her up in his arms.

noun

swoops plural

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

   Synonyms:

   drop, sweep, plunge, dive

idioms

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.

swoop British  

/ swuːp /

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

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noun

1. the act of swooping

2. a swift descent

swoop More Idioms  

1. see one fell swoop.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• swoops
  plural

Participles

• swooping
  present
• swooped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• swoop
  simple
• swoops
  simple
• have swooped
  perfect
• has swooped
  perfect
• am swooping
  progressive
• are swooping
  progressive
• is swooping
  progressive
• have been swooping
  perfect progressive
• has been swooping
  perfect progressive

Past

• swooped
  simple
• had swooped
  perfect
• was swooping
  progressive
• were swooping
  progressive
• had been swooping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will swoop
  simple
• will have swooped
  perfect
• will be swooping
  progressive
• will have been swooping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of swoop

1535–45; variant (with close ō ) of Middle English swopen, Old English swāpan to sweep ¹; cognate with German schweifen

Explanation

To swoop is to move downward quickly and dramatically, like an eagle that swoops down to catch its prey. A swoop is an impressive movement best demonstrated by a bird. If a bird is high in the air, then moves down quickly, making an arc or loop, that's an example of a swoop. People can also swoop — three muggers might swoop in on a victim, for example. The phrase "one fell swoop" means "all at once," and Shakespeare used it first, in "Macbeth:" "What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Dam, At one fell swoop?"

Example Sentences

Also contributing are Aalyria Technologies, a networking company that adapted technology from Google parent Alphabet; artificial-intelligence startup Scale AI and software firm Swoop Technologies, according to some of the people.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Last year a company called Swoop Aero used drones to deliver vaccines in the island nation of Vanuatu.

From NewsForKids.net • May 2, 2024

Swoop will operate its existing network through to the end of its published schedule on October 28, and Swoop employees will move to WestJet, WestJet said in a statement.

From Reuters • Jun. 9, 2023

In August 2020, the Swoop became the first low-field scanner to win U.S.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 22, 2023

She started to walk fast, past Odenigbo, and when she got home she lay down in the guest room and was not surprised when the Dark Swoop descended.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Related Words

• dive
• plummet
• pounce