Adjacent Words

Swoop definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SWOOP, v.t. [This is probably from sweep, or the same root.]
1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken; a kite swoops up a mouse.
2. To seize; to catchup; to take with a sweep.
3. To pass with violence.
SWOOP, v.i. To pass with pomp.
SWOOP, n. A falling on and seizing, as of a rapacious fowl on his prey.
The eagle fell--and carried away a whole litter of cubs at a swoop.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale; "the violinist was indulgent with his swoops and slides" [syn: swoop, slide]
2: a very rapid raid
3: a swift descent through the air v
1: move down on as if in an attack; "The raptor swooped down on its prey"; "The teacher swooped down upon the new students" [syn: pounce, swoop]
2: move with a sweep, or in a swooping arc
3: seize or catch with a swooping motion [syn: swoop, swoop up]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: alteration of Middle English swopen to sweep, from Old English sw?pan — more at sweep Date: 1566 intransitive verb to move with a sweep transitive verb to gain or carry off in or as if in a swoop — usually used with up • swooper noun II. noun Date: 1605 1. an act or instance of swooping 2. a single concentrated and quickly effective effort <was done in one swoop> — often used with fell <solved everything at one fell swoop>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. (often foll. by down) descend rapidly like a bird of prey. 2 intr. (often foll. by on) make a sudden attack from a distance. 3 tr. (often foll. by up) colloq. snatch the whole of at one swoop. --n. a swooping or snatching movement or action. Phrases and idioms: at (or in) one fell swoop see FELL(4). Etymology: perh. dial. var. of obs. swope f. OE swapan: see SWEEP

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swoop Swoop, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swooped; p. pr. & vb. n. Swooping.] [OE. swopen, usually, to sweep, As. sw[=a]pan to sweep, to rush; akin to G. schweifen to rove, to ramble, to curve, OHG. sweifan to whirl, Icel. sveipa to sweep; also to AS. sw[=i]fan to move quickly. Cf. Sweep, Swift, a. & n., Swipe, Swivel.] 1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken. 2. To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep. And now at last you came to swoop it all. --Dryden. The grazing ox which swoops it [the medicinal herb] in with the common grass. --Glanvill.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swoop Swoop, v. i. 1. To descend with closed wings from a height upon prey, as a hawk; to swoop. 2. To pass with pomp; to sweep. [Obs.] --Drayton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swoop Swoop, n. A falling on and seizing, as the prey of a rapacious bird; the act of swooping. The eagle fell, . . . and carried away a whole litter of cubs at a swoop. --L'Estrange.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(swoops, swooping, swooped) 1. If police or soldiers swoop on a place, they go there suddenly and quickly, usually in order to arrest someone or to attack the place. (JOURNALISM) The terror ended when armed police swooped on the car... The drugs squad swooped and discovered 240 kilograms of cannabis. VERB: V on n, V • Swoop is also a noun. Police held 10 suspected illegal immigrants after a swoop on a German lorry. N-COUNT 2. When a bird or aeroplane swoops, it suddenly moves downwards through the air in a smooth curving movement. More than 20 helicopters began swooping in low over the ocean... The hawk swooped and soared away carrying something. VERB: V adv/prep, V 3. If something is done in one fell swoop or at one fell swoop, it is done on a single occasion or by a single action. In one fell swoop the bank wiped away the tentative benefits of this policy. PHRASE: PHR with cl

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Seize (as a hawk its prey), catch while on the wing. 2. Catch up, pounce upon, seize, clutch. II. v. n. Stoop, descend, come down, bear down. III. n. 1. Clutch, seizure. 2. Stoop, descent.

Moby Thesaurus

belly buster, belly flop, belly whopper, blow, cannonball, cascade, cataract, chute, collapse, come down, comedown, crash, crash dive, debacle, declension, declination, defluxion, descend, descending, descension, descent, dip down, dive, down, downbend, downcome, downcurve, downfall, downflow, downgrade, downpour, downrush, downtrend, downturn, downward trend, drop, drop down, drop off, dropping, fall, fall down, fall off, falling, gainer, go down, go downhill, gravitate, gravitation, header, inclination, jackknife, lose altitude, nose dive, nose-dive, parachute, parachute jump, pitch, plop, plummet, plummeting, plump, plunge, plunk, pounce, pounce on, pounce upon, pour down, power dive, precipitate, rain, rapids, running dive, rush, skin-dive, sky dive, sky-dive, sound, stationary dive, stoop, stroke, swan dive, sweep, swoop down, take a header, trend downward, waterfall