swoop
pronunciation
How to pronounce swoop in British English:
UK [swu:p]
How to pronounce swoop in American English:
US [swup]
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- Noun:
- (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale
- a very rapid raid
- a swift descent through the air
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- Verb:
- move down on as if in an attack
- move with a sweep, or in a swooping arc
- seize or catch with a swooping motion
Word Origin
- swoop (v.)
- 1560s, "to move or walk in a stately manner," apparently from a dialectal survival of Old English swapan "to sweep, brandish, dash," from Proto-Germanic *swaip-, from PIE root *swei- (2) "to bend, turn" (see swivel (n.)). Meaning "pounce upon with a sweeping movement" first recorded 1630s (see swoop (n.)). Spelling with -oo- may have been influenced by Scottish and northern England dialectal soop "to sweep," from Old Norse sopa "to sweep." Related: Swooped; swooping.
- swoop (n.)
- 1540s, "a blow, stroke," from swoop (v.). Meaning "the sudden pouncing of a rapacious bird on its prey" is 1605, from Shakespeare: Oh, Hell-Kite! All? What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme, At one fell swoope? ["Macbeth," IV.iii.219]
Example
- 1. The engines are loud and the ride not smooth , as pilots swoop and roll to lessen the threat of attack from the ground .
- 2. According to caters news , the photographer was stunned when he saw the smaller bird swoop in on the eagle and perch himself on its back .
- 3. He does that during their long conversation in norman 's " parlor , " where savage stuffed birds seem poised to swoop down and capture them as prey .
- 4. The sequel boasts a deeper ( yet just as accessible ) combat system set in an epically scaled environment where players can swoop , glide and pounce in a plethora of missions .
- 5. Someone needs to swoop in there and stop the madness .