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

See Examples For:

swoop swoops swooped swooping

“Yes, it’s going to feel endless, but you never know. This person might be open to picking up the check but you swoop in so quickly.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

West Ham fans frantically refreshing Ceefax on 31 August 2006 must have thought they'd landed on the jokes page when news broke of a double swoop for a pair of Argentina's top young stars.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Having a bird swoop down to snatch food from your hand is one of the most intimate interactions we can have with wildlife.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

“In one fell swoop, thousands of Haitians and Syrians now risk losing the right to live and work in the country they call home.”

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

Magdalys watched the dactyl swoop back into the night with a triumphant caw.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older

After the parade, the New York City Department of Sanitation swoops into action to sweep up the thousands of pounds of paper.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026

Waves crash along the Palm Beach shoreline and a drone shot swoops over the grounds of Mar-a-Lago before landing at a pair of stilettos donned by Melania Trump.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

Portimao is a 2.89-mile track that swoops over hilly terrain and is highly regarded for its driving challenge.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025

In her introduction, she swoops over the poppy fields to free the enslaved oxen forced to build the Yellow Brick Road.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025

Then at last, when everything is ready...phwisst!...and she swoops!

From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

That secret branch then swooped in to train the resulting child—Cramer—starting around age 3 or 4.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

In early July, EasyJet and Castlelake said they had agreed a deal in principle, but then Apollo - which owns Wagamama parent The Restaurant Group - swooped in with a higher bid.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Before Apollo swooped in, EasyJet looked set to be taken private by Castlelake, which manages around $38 billion in assets, after the carrier accepted its beefed-up fifth bid on Sunday.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

She assumed office this year after U.S. forces swooped into the capital in a predawn raid on Jan. 3 and arrested her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

Relief swooped through the crowd like the news of a snowstorm on the morning when a report not yet written was due.

From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord

Frasers has built a reputation for swooping in to buy retail brands which have fallen into administration, but its gradual increase in ownership of profit-making Hugo Boss over several years is a different approach.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

While the original museum is contained in a subterranean space built into the landscape of the park, the new light-filled campus is a swooping architectural feat that features three pavilions connected by an open canopy.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

Come to think of it, thoughts are perhaps not unlike a murmuration of starlings, flitting and swooping and morphing with seemingly serendipitous activation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

So yeah, bald eagles are like pirates, swooping in and taking what they want, when they want it.

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026

Henry began flapping his arms and swooping in circles, being a bird.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

• dive
• plummet
• pounce