Swoop

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Swoop, v. t. [OE. swopen, usually, to sweep, As. swāpan 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. swīfan to move quickly. Cf. Sweep, Swift, a. & n., Swipe, Swivel.].

•  To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken.  [1913 Webster]
•  To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep.  [1913 Webster]

  "And now at last you came to swoop it all."  [1913 Webster]

  "The grazing ox which swoops it [the medicinal herb] in with the common grass."  [1913 Webster]

Swoop, v. i. 

•  To descend with closed wings from a height upon prey, as a hawk; to stoop.  [1913 Webster]
•  To pass with pomp; to sweep.  Drayton.  [1913 Webster]

Swoop, n. 

 A falling on and seizing, as the prey of a rapacious bird; the act of swooping.  [1913 Webster]
"The eagle fell, . . . and carried away a whole litter of cubs at a swoop."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Swoop, 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.

Idiom

at (or in) one fell swoop see FELL(4).

Etymology

perh. dial. var. of obs. swope f. OE swapan: see SWEEP

THESAURUS

Swoop

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Swoop

Taking

N taking, reception, deglutition, appropriation, prehension, prensation, capture, caption, apprehension, deprehension, abreption, seizure, expropriation, abduction, ablation, subtraction, withdrawal, abstraction, ademption, adrolepsy, dispossession, deprivation, deprivement, bereavement, divestment, disherison, distraint, distress, sequestration, confiscation, eviction, rapacity, rapaciousness, extortion, vampirism, theft, resumption, reprise, reprisal, recovery, clutch, swoop, wrench, grip, haul, take, catch, scramble, taker, captor, subduction, taking, privative, prehensile, predaceous, predal, predatory, predatorial, lupine, rapacious, raptorial, ravenous, parasitic, bereft, at one fell swoop, give an inch and take an ell.

Descent

VB descend, go down, drop down, come down, fall, gravitate, drop, slip, slide, rappel, settle, plunge, plummet, crash, decline, set, sink, droop, come down a peg, slump, dismount, alight, light, get down, swoop, stoop, fall prostrate, precipitate oneself, let fall, tumble, trip, stumble, titubate, lurch, pitch, swag, topple, topple over, tumble over, topple down, tumble down, tilt, sprawl, plump down, come down a cropper.