one fell swoop, in

Idioms  

1. Also at one fell swoop. All at once, in a single action, as in This law has lifted all the controls on cable TV in one fell swoop. This term was used and probably invented by Shakespeare in Macbeth (4:3), where the playwright likens the murder of Macduff's wife and children to a hawk swooping down on defenseless prey. Although fell here means “cruel” or “ruthless,” this meaning has been lost in the current idiom, where it now signifies “sudden.”

2. see one fell swoop.

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Example Sentences

As the leader of The Beach Boys, he elevated American music and the notion of recording artistry in one fell swoop in the mid-1960s.

From Salon • Jun. 12, 2025

The Angels, who still have to fill the role of bench coach, will likely announce their 2020 coaching staff in one fell swoop in November.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2019

In 1924 the U. S. defeated Australia in one fell swoop in the challenge round for the Davis Cup, great silver symbol of international lawn tennis supremacy.

From Time Magazine Archive

They halted not perforce, but apparently for deliberation, when with one fell swoop in the next moment they swept the field in their front.

From The Black Phalanx African American soldiers in the War of Independence, the War of 1812, and the Civil War by Wilson, Joseph T. (Joseph Thomas)

I invested the whole of my capital, at one fell swoop, in advertisements, and purchased my drugs and my pill-boxes on credit.

From No Name by Collins, Wilkie