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swoop Definition

swoop (swo̵̅o̅p)

transitive verb

to snatch or seize suddenly, with a sweeping movement: often with up, off, or away

Etymology: ME swopen < OE swapan, to sweep along, rush, akin to Ger schweifen, ON sveipa: see swift

intransitive verb

to descend suddenly and swiftly, as a bird in hunting; pounce or sweep (down or upon)

noun

the act of swooping or pouncing; sudden, violent descent

swoop Synonyms

swoop

n.

plunge, fall, drop; see descent 2, dive 1.

swoop Synonyms

swoop

v.

swoop Usage Examples

Object

  • police: Swiss police swooped on Friday to arrest a 45-year-old man.
  • officer: Matthew Burton was arrested after officers swooped on a suspected crack den in Dunlin, Letchworth Garden City, on September 15.

Converse of object

  • fall: In one fell swoop, I'm into bed, The sheets up round my neck.

Adjective modifier

  • double: Ben Petty is the other half in the double swoop on Stoke City.
  • big: Considering the big swoops and bends that the tremolo arm can deliver, the tuning stays remarkably accurate.

Adjective complement

  • low: Giant bird swooping low Quickly darting, hovering slow, Eye glaring, beak tearing, Prey eaten out of sight.
  • past: As I ran past the circus head quarters down Walcott fen an owl swooped past.

Modifying Another Word

  • overhead: On one occasion, around lunchtime, people in the village heard airplane gunfire and a German plane swooped overhead, firing its guns.
  • down: The raven will swoop down to investigate the brass egg.
  • then: The plane then swooped in a tight circle back to the shore by now fairly low.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • down: A former soldier, Richard swoops down upon the sleepy peak district town of his birth from a deserted hilltop farmhouse.
  • around: Luckily there was some bats swooping around for us to watch.
  • up: Both planes swooped up, from my'mind's eye ' , little more than 100 feet from the ground.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • down: We swooped down the big hill right onto the very busy harbor.

Infinitive complement

  • sign: Derby County have swooped to sign up Matthew Oakley, longest serving player with Southampton.

Noun used with modifier

  • eagle: A bald eagle swoops across the bay and perches on a tall spruce.
  • police: News: Arrests after drugs seized in police swoop News: A true Toy Story!
  • bird: The birds swoop from formation and bomb the player's laser base.
  • drug: The drugs swoop has been planned for more than three months and has involved intelligence gathering and observation techniques.

Modifies a noun

  • landing: Many people are trying to perform swoop landings without the needed " survival " skills.
swoop Quotes

Fortune's a right whore: If she give aught, she deals it in small parcels, That she may take awayall at one swoop. 894

—Webster,John

Browse dictionary entries near swoop

  1. swoon
  2. swollen
  3. swob
  4. swizzle stick
  5. swizzle
  6. swivet
  7. swivel chair
  8. swivel
  9. swive
  10. Switzerland
  1. swoosh
  2. swop
  3. sword
  4. sword bayonet
  5. sword belt
  6. sword cane
  7. sword dance
  8. sword fern
  9. sword grass
  10. sword knot