swoop

[swoop]

verb (used without object)

to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey.
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)

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

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

Idioms

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

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

Synonyms for swoop

4. dive, plunge, sweep, drop.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for swooping

pounce, dive, plummet, rush, plunge, sweep, stoop, slide, fall

Examples from the Web for swooping

Contemporary Examples of swooping

It has the swooping, symmetrical grace of a bird's wingspan.
The World's Most Beautiful Boat—Yours for Half a Billion Dollars
Tim Teeman
October 19, 2014
They craft melodies that mirror those experiences, swooping and soaring and begging you to sing along.
Why Is It Cool to Hate Coldplay? A First Listen of New Album ‘Ghost Stories’
Andrew Romano
March 26, 2014
He says the way we do this is similar to a bird of prey assessing its quarry, swooping in.
David Best Creates a Temple Made of Memories Outside San Francisco
Debra A. Klein
February 14, 2014
He did the same for my sister, swooping in to whisk her away from the Cadet Org in Florida.
Scientology’s Sea Org: A Story of Escape for Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise
Abigail Pesta
July 6, 2012
European leaders have pinned their hopes on wealthy foreign investors, swooping in to buy eurozone sovereign.
Germany Must Pay Europe’s Tab If It Wants to Keep the Union Together
Louise Armitstead
June 8, 2012

Historical Examples of swooping

The general tenor of the sound was a kind of swooping, batlike whine.
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett
"Give it to me this instant," cried Winnie, swooping upon the small girl.
Rosemary
Josephine Lawrence
With a great sweeping, swooping heave Mittie May made the last leap.
Sundry Accounts
Irvin S. Cobb
He was gone, with the swooping suddenness of his appearance.
The Thing from the Lake
Eleanor M. Ingram
The water was whirling, whirling, the whole black night was swooping in rings.
The Rainbow
D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for swooping

swoop

verb

(intr; usually foll by down, on, or upon) to sweep or pounce suddenly
(tr; often foll by up, away, or off) to seize or scoop suddenly

noun

the act of swooping
a swift descent

Word Origin for swoop

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

Word Origin and History for swooping

swoop

1560s, "to move or walk in a stately manner," apparently from a dialectal survival of Old English swapan "to sweep, brandish, dash," from Proto-Germanic *swaipanan, from PIE root *swei- "to swing, bend, to turn." Meaning "pounce upon with a sweeping movement" first recorded 1630s. Spelling with -oo- may have been influenced by Scottish and northern England dialectal soop "to sweep," from Old Norse sopa "to sweep." Related: Swooped; swooping.

swoop

1540s, from swoop (v.). Phrase one fell swoop is from Shakespeare.

Oh, Hell-Kite! All? What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme, At one fell swoope? ["Macbeth," IV.iii.219]

Idioms and Phrases with swooping

swoop

see one fell swoop.