swoop

/swup/

/swup/

Other forms: swooped; swooping; swoops

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?"

Definitions of swoop

1. verb

   move with a sweep, or in a swooping arc
   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
2. verb

   move down on as if in an attack
   “The raptor swooped down on its prey”

   “The teacher swooped down upon the new students”

   synonyms: pounce

   types:

   stoop

   descend swiftly, as if on prey

   type of:

   come down, descend, fall, go down

   move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
3. verb

   seize or catch with a swooping motion
   synonyms: swoop up

   type of:

   snap, snatch, snatch up

   to grasp hastily or eagerly
4. noun

   a very rapid raid
   type of:

   foray, maraud, raid

   a sudden short attack
5. noun

   a swift descent through the air
   type of:

   descent

   the act of changing your location in a downward direction
6. noun

   (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale
   synonyms: slide

   type of:

   glissando

   a rapid series of ascending or descending notes on the musical scale