swoop

Etymology

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

verb

1. (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.
2. (intransitive) To move swiftly, as if with a sweeping movement, especially to attack something.
   The dog had enthusiastically swooped down on the bone.
   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. January 12 2022, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Scotland”, in RAIL, number 948, page 19
3. (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)
4. (transitive) To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep.
   And now at last you come to swoop it all. 1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada
5. (intransitive) To pass with pomp; to sweep.
6. (Britain, prison 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

1. 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
2. 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
3. (music) 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