swoop

/ˈswuːp/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

obsolete/ˈsuːp/

swoop verb: to fly or glide downwards suddenly; to plunge (in the air) or nosedive.

Verb

swoop (third-person singular simple present swoops, present participle swooping, simple past and past participle swooped)

(intransitive) To fly or glide downwards suddenly; to plunge (in the air) or nosedive.
- The lone eagle swooped down into the lake, snatching its prey, a small fish.
Synonyms:

stoop
(intransitive) To move swiftly, as if with a sweeping movement, especially to attack something.
- The dog had enthusiastically swooped down on the bone.
- There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards.1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
(transitive) To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing.
- And his Eagles, which can with the same ease as a kite swoops a chicken, snatch up a strong built Chamber of wood 12 foot square, & well crampt & fortified with Iron, with all its furniture, & a man besides, & carry it to the Clouds?Quoted in 1971, The Scriblerian (volumes 4-5, page 2)
(transitive) To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep.
- Thus the Phyſitian looks with another Eye on the Medicinal hearb, then the grazing Oxe, which ſwoops it in with the common graſs: […]1661, Joseph Glanvill, “An Apology for Philosophy”, in The Vanity of Dogmatizing: Or Confidence in Opinions. […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC, page 247
- And now at last you come to swoop it all.1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada
(intransitive) To pass with pomp; to sweep.
- Proude Tamer swoopes along, with such a lustie traine / As fits so brave a flood two Countries that divides: […]1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned...
(UK, slang) To search the ground for discarded cigarette butts that can be made into new cigarettes.
- He was forever diving into dustbins or swooping on to the ground for cigarette ends.1989, Michael Bettsworth, Marking Time: A Prison Memoir, page 32
- Swooping is picking up discarded cigarette butts from the exercise yard and anywhere else they can be found.2015, Noel 'Razor' Smith, The Criminal Alphabet: An A-Z of Prison Slang

Noun

swoop (plural swoops)

An instance, or the act of suddenly plunging downward.
- The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim. – Sun Tzu
- One evening, when the Boy was going to bed, he couldn't find the china dog that always slept with him. Nana was in a hurry, and it was too much trouble to hunt for china dogs at bedtime, so she simply looked about her, and seeing that the toy cupboard door stood open, she made a swoop.1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
A sudden act of seizing.
- Fortune's a right whore. If she give ought, she deals it in small parcels, that she may take away all at one swoop.1612, John Webster, The White Devil
A quick passage from one note to the next.
- Originally, computers' attempts at making music were recognizable by their beeps and boops and weird swoops.2008, Russell Dean Vines, Composing Digital Music For Dummies, page 281
(collective) A group of swallows or other birds.
- an entire swoop of swallows plunges into a breach in time, so they can get across the pass at just the right moment.2022, Baptiste Morizot, Ways of Being Alive, Polity Press
- There was a lark in the sky, a chatter of rooks, and the swoop of swallows arrived to-day.1903, William Babington Maxwell, Fabulous Fancies, G. Richards, page 161

swoop meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada

swoop in Hindi

swoop, pounce, dash: झपट्टा jhapaṭṭā
to swoop, pounce, plunge, raid, rush: झपटना jhapaṭnā

swoop in Tamil

to swoop: கிழி kiḻi

swoop in Malayalam

ചാടിപ്പിടിക്കുക, തട്ടിയെടുക്കുക, തട്ടിപ്പറിക്കാൻ പാഞ്ഞുവരിക

swoop in Kannada

ಹಠಾತ್ತನೆ ಕೆಳಗಿಳಿಯುವಿಕೆ, ಎರಗುವುದು, ಆಕ್ರಮಣ, ಆಕಸ್ಮಿಕ ದಾಳಿ, ಮುನ್ಸೂಚನೆಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಮೇಲೆರಗುವಿಕೆ, ತಟ್ಟನೆ ದೋಚುವಿಕೆ

More languagesFewer languages

swoop in Sanskrit: ध्रजति dhrajati
swoop in Thai: โฉบ chòop

Examples of swoop in a sentence

Bridge of Weir: Protection of the site of the former Kilmacolm branch station (closed on January 3 1983) has been lifted, and developers have swooped in with plans for new housing.2022 January 12, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Scotland”, in RAIL, number 948, page 19:
Lestrade tugged his muffler closer about his throat and eyed a swoop of gulls balefully as they taunted their wingtips against the water.2025, Marcia Wilson, A Fanged and Bitter Thing, Andrews UK Limited:

All 40 example sentences with swoop

Synonyms of swoop

stoop

Forms of swoop

Verb
third-person singular present	swoops
present participle	swooping
past participle	swooped
past	swooped
Noun
plural	swoops

Past tense of swoop: swooped

Origin of swoop

Inherited from Middle English swopen (“to sweep”), from Old English swāpan. Doublet of swaip. See also sweep, which was probably the basis for analogical restoration of /w/ in this word.

Words formed from swoop

Phrases with swoop

Words that rhyme with swoop

39 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about swoop

What does swoop mean?: Swoop means to fly or glide downwards suddenly; to plunge (in the air) or nosedive.
What is swoop in Hindi?: Swoop in Hindi is झपट्टा (jhapaṭṭā), झपटना (jhapaṭnā). See Swoop meaning in Hindi.
How do you use swoop in a sentence?: Bridge of Weir: Protection of the site of the former Kilmacolm branch station (closed on January 3 1983) has been lifted, and developers have swooped in with plans for new housing.
What part of speech is swoop?: Swoop can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce swoop?: Swoop is pronounced /ˈswuːp/.
What is the past tense of swoop?: The past tense of swoop is swooped.

Words near swoop in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: swoop (page history and authors); झपटना (Hindi) (page history and authors); கிழி (Tamil) (page history and authors); swoop (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swoop (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-swoop.ogg.

Cite this entry: “swoop.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swoop. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.