swoop

\ ˈswüp

How to pronounce swoop (audio)

\

swooped; swooping; swoops

Definition of swoop

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

swoop

Definition of swoop (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an act or instance of swooping

2 : a single concentrated and quickly effective effort was done in one swoop —often used with fellsolved everything at one fell swoop

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Examples of swoop in a Sentence

Verb The police swooped in and captured the criminals.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Acorn woodpeckers fiercely defend territories of granary trees stuffed with supplies, and when a vacancy opens up, rival teams swoop in to fight for it. — Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, "From Rapping Robots to Glowing Frogs: Our Favorite Fun Stories of 2020," 29 Dec. 2020 For months, people desperate to get back to normal life have been counting on a coronavirus vaccine to swoop in and lift the country out of quarantine. — Lisa J. Huriash, sun-sentinel.com, "Who’s getting the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida? Answers to many of your questions.," 12 Dec. 2020 This suggests their immune systems were primed to swoop in and destroy tumors once a cancer drug started killing some cells, Staudt says. — Jocelyn Kaiser, Science | AAAS, "‘Exceptional’ cancer patients yield clues to better drug treatments," 19 Nov. 2020 Kelly Clarkson made a critical error that allowed John Legend to swoop in and pick up the first four-chair-turn of the season. — Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, "'The Voice' premiere: John Legend's campaign-style ad attacking Blake Shelton backfires badly," 20 Oct. 2020 Who better to swoop in and remind us of the thrill and possibility of movies, to offer us hope right here on the precipice of a much newer New Year than most, than Wonder Woman herself? — Mary Sollosi, EW.com, "Wonder Woman 1984 is the massive movie we've been waiting for: Review," 15 Dec. 2020 As the Starship approaches the ground, the rocket would ignite its engines and the vehicle would swoop back to an upright position just before touchdown. — Jackie Wattles, CNN, "Space X's Mars prototype rocket exploded yesterday. Here's what happened on the flight," 10 Dec. 2020 Griffon vultures, imperial eagles and long-legged buzzards swoop over the Golan Heights. — The Economist, "Not in my wetland The battle over where to put Israel’s new airport," 31 Oct. 2020 Once an owl has honed in on a victim, the downy feathers on its wings and legs enable it to swoop down without making a sound and grab the animal with strong talons. — National Geographic, "Barn owl," 31 Oct. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Looking to save big on clothes, accessories, and home decor in one fell swoop? — Kelsey Mulvey, Good Housekeeping, "The Best New Year Sales of 2021 You Can Shop Right Now," 28 Dec. 2020 Instead of attempting to improve conditions for those in detention, Biden will have the chance to power-wash the filth away in one fell swoop by stopping most immigration detention altogether. — Felipe De La Hoz, The New Republic, "Joe Biden Doesn’t Need the GOP’s Permission to Fix Our Broken Immigration System," 25 Dec. 2020 By contrast, Larsen and others created 100 billion units of XRP in one fell swoop in 2012 for a company called Ripple Labs. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Ripple says it will be sued by the SEC, in what the company calls a parting shot at the crypto industry," 22 Dec. 2020 Yet the fact that so many members of the species are returning to one place makes wildfires even more dangerous, as the Dolan Fire proved in one fell swoop. — Jesse Klein, Wired, "Severe Wildfires Are Devastating the California Condor," 11 Dec. 2020 Sizes are selling out super fast, so there's no better time than now to shop the sale, become a member and score huge savings—all in one fell swoop! — Arielle Tschinkel, USA TODAY, "Nearly every single thing is on sale at adidas for the store's Friends and Family Sale," 7 Dec. 2020 But in one fell swoop this spring, kids home from school were running down the halls of her apartment complex in Roseville. — Jackie Crosby, Star Tribune, "Work from home brings new freedom, new distractions and new definition of 'the office'," 28 Nov. 2020 In one fell swoop, Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. on Tuesday fended off labor protections that were decades in the making, allowing the companies to keep compensating their drivers as independent contractors. — Joel Rosenblatt, Bloomberg.com, "Uber Won Its Prized Contractor Status for Drivers. Now What?," 4 Nov. 2020 In one fell swoop, Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. on Tuesday fended off labor protections that were decades in the making, allowing the companies to keep compensating their drivers as independent contractors. — Bloomberg Wire, Dallas News, "Uber, Lyft win ballot issue to keep paying drivers as independent contractors," 4 Nov. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swoop.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

19 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Swoop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swoop. Accessed 23 Jan. 2021.

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