swoop

swoop
swoop (v.) 1560s, "to move or walk in a stately manner," apparently from a dialectal survival of O.E. swapan "to sweep, brandish, dash," from P.Gmc. *swaipanan, from PIE root *swei- "to swing, bend, to turn." Meaning "pounce upon with a sweeping movement" first recorded 1630s. Spelling with -oo- may have been influenced by Scottish and northern England dialectal soop "to sweep," from O.N. sopa "to sweep." Related: Swooped; swooping. The noun is attested from 1540s. Phrase one fell swoop is from Shakespeare.
Oh, Hell-Kite! All? What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme, At one fell swoope? ["Macbeth," IV.iii.219]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Swoop — may mean:* Swoop (mascot), the mascot for the Philadelphia Eagles * Swoop (Transformer), several fictional characters in the Transformers series * A swoop bike * The Southwestern Ontario Organization of Parachutists * The red tailed hawk mascot… …   Wikipedia

  • swoop — ► VERB 1) move rapidly downwards through the air. 2) carry out a sudden raid. 3) (often swoop up) informal seize with a sweeping motion. ► NOUN ▪ an act of swooping. ● at (or in) one fell swoop Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • Swoop — 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. L Estrange. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 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.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Swoop — Swoop, v. i. 1. To descend with closed wings from a height upon prey, as a hawk; to stoop. [1913 Webster] 2. To pass with pomp; to sweep. [Obs.] Drayton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • swoop — swoop·er; swoop; …   English syllables

  • swoop — [v] descend quickly dive, fall, plummet, plunge, pounce, rush, slide, stoop, sweep; concepts 150,181 Ant. ascend …   New thesaurus

  • swoop — [swo͞op] vt. [ME swopen < OE swapan, to sweep along, rush, akin to Ger schweifen, ON sveipa: see SWIFT] to snatch or seize suddenly, with a sweeping movement: often with up, off, or away vi. to descend suddenly and swiftly, as a bird in… …   English World dictionary

  • Swoop — Este artículo o sección necesita referencias que aparezcan en una publicación acreditada, como revistas especializadas, monografías, prensa diaria o páginas de Internet fidedignas. Puedes añadirlas así o avisar a …   Wikipedia Español

  • swoop — swoop1 [swu:p] v [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: swope [i] to sweep (11 19 centuries), from Old English swapan; SWEEP1] 1.) if a bird or aircraft swoops, it moves suddenly down through the air, especially in order to attack something ▪ The eagle… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”