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

EasyJet will be taken over in a "foreign swoop" for £5.7bn, reports the Financial Times.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Big swings in AI stocks have reversed before, and some traders saw Thursday’s moves in the two companies’ shares as an opportunity to swoop in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 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

In one fell swoop, Congress used its guarantee clause authority to establish multiracial democracy where human bondage had previously held sway, enfranchising huge numbers of formerly enslaved Black Americans and remaking Southern society.

From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2026

But when he began to walk forwards again, it rose up from the grass a little way off, and began to circle and swoop.

From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill

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

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

Murmurations of birds swirl above rugged plains, landscapes shift into geometric compositions, and uncanny juxtapositions—a shirt dangling from a tree as a lone bird swoops by—lend seemingly simple pictures eerie characteristics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

Then she calls the monster, Emperor Palpatine, by name as the Empire cuts off the Senate's version of a C-SPAN feed, and Cassian swoops in to help her run for her life.

From Salon ● May 7, 2025

My body goes light and my arms go out, my heart swoops up and soars down; it’s like it always is.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

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

The case captivated the country as the FBI swooped on the region to search for the missing woman.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

In late 2024, the so-called “BATMANN” stocks swooped to the market’s rescue.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

After the restaurant was shuttered in 1984, Inouye swooped in to rescue Chicken Boy and place him in protective storage — for years, as it turned out.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

Without delay, eight Luftwaffe fighters swooped down on Zhenya’s formation of Pe-2s.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

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

Budget carriers like Breeze, Allegiant and Frontier are swooping in on Spirit’s former routes as well as circling its valuable takeoff and landing slots at bigger airports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

In the mornings, Christine eagerly awaits the brightly colored, highly vocal birds swooping into their garden, whooping their greetings before flying off into the junglelike foliage.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026

Despite the fear in the community, Urbach said the thought of private equity or corporations swooping in is not realistic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026

There were the potted palms, the shiny machines and swooping desk lamps.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Related Words

• dive
• plummet
• pounce