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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 orupon ).
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, oroff ).
He swooped her up in his arms.
noun
an act or instance of swooping; a sudden, swift descent.
Synonyms: , , ,
swoop
/ ɳː /
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
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of swoop1
Idioms and Phrases
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.
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.
With few exceptions, it appears that they are listening to James Carville’s advice to roll over, play dead, and then swoop in after Trump and the Republicans make terminal political errors.
There are concerns the bird is guarding its nest and may attack children at Dame Tipping Primary School in Havering-atte-Bower after there were reports it had swooped on residents in the village.
A Royal Navy warship has swooped in on a vessel which was carrying £30m worth of illegal drugs.
There was the Root drop off Stokes and, later, he fended Tongue to the swooping Pope at short leg off a no-ball.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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