swoop

[ swoop ]
See synonyms for swoop on Thesaurus.com
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.

Idioms about swoop

  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.

Origin of swoop

1
1535–45; variant (with close ō) of Middle English swopen,Old English swāpan to sweep1; cognate with German schweifen

Other words for swoop

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use swoop in a sentence

  • His thoughts swooped in another direction—he suddenly fixed his attention upon Lettice.

    The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
  • Far up the gorge dense clouds of black smoke swooped down from the benchland.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • Black Hood sprang out from the pole, swooped down upon the messenger like a huge black bat.

  • Joe flung pieces of fish into the air, and kept chatting volubly as his pets swooped and squabbled.

    The Chequers | James Runciman
  • The swallows swooped past the two children, almost touching them with their wings, that hardly seemed to move.

British Dictionary definitions for swoop

swoop

/ (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

noun
  1. the act of swooping

  2. a swift descent

Origin of swoop

1
Old English swāpan to sweep; related to Old High German sweifan to swing around, Old Norse sveipa to throw

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with swoop

swoop

see one fell swoop.

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