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# swoop

«swoop» in Mova's school dictionary: **to fly or move down quickly and suddenly through the air…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (swoop, swoops, swooped, swooping); noun (a swoop, swoops)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To swoop means to fly or move down quickly and suddenly through the air, usually to catch something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#m1)

2) A swoop is a quick downward rush, or a sudden attack or raid. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#m2)

3) «In one fell swoop» means all at once. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science and nature: birds of prey (eagles, hawks, owls) swoop to catch mice; in Australia, magpies swoop on people in spring to protect their nests — wear a hat, walk calmly, do not run or wave arms. In stories, «swoop» gives a picture of fast, sudden movement. Phrases: swoop down, swoop in, swoop on, in one fell swoop.

### examples

- The owl swooped down and caught a mouse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x1)
- In spring, magpies swoop on cyclists near their nests. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x2)
- A seagull swooped and stole my chip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x3)
- The swallows swooped low over the pond. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x4)
- Police swooped on the thieves at dawn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x5)
- Mum swooped in and picked up the crying toddler. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x6)
- He cleared the table in one fell swoop. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x7)
- He had hardly spoken, before the hawk swooped down and knocked the cup from his hand. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: swooped, swooping. Swoop means going down fast; «soar» means flying high and gliding. Australian safety: during swooping season, wear a hat or helmet and use a different path if a magpie nest is near.

### In the corpora

- [Australian magpies swoop people in spring to protect their nests.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/26-wild-animals/17/)
- [Magpies can remember human faces, and people who throw things at them often get swooped more.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/458-magpies-geese-ponies-and-swans-animals-that-are-not-your-friends/27/)
- [For thus saith the LORD: Behold, he shall swoop as a vulture, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/JER.1276/)
- [And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, He did swoop down upon the wings of the wind.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.221/)
- [They are passed away as the swift ships; as the vulture that swoopeth on the prey.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/JOB.225/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «swoop» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swoop/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.