swooped; swooping; swoops
: to move with a sweep
: to gain or carry off in or as if in a swoop
—usually used with up
swooper noun
1
: an act or instance of swooping
2
: a single concentrated and quickly effective effort
—often used with fell
was done in one swoop
solved everything at one fell swoop
Examples of swoop in a Sentence
Verb The police swooped in and captured the criminals.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kyle Kensing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2026 Breakfast, part buffet, part à la carte, is a proper meal to be enjoyed at leisure in the garden, with birds swooping in to steal the crumbs. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2026
Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 21 Apr. 2026 Could someone new swoop in and excite the voters enough to go rogue? —Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for swoop
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
There, Kyle Duncan swooped in to beat SDFC’s Luca Bombino with a header that beat goalkeeper Duran Ferree. —Kyle Kensing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2026 Breakfast, part buffet, part à la carte, is a proper meal to be enjoyed at leisure in the garden, with birds swooping in to steal the crumbs. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2026
Noun
With a clean swoop, Miller had the animal subdued and sedated. —Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 21 Apr. 2026 Could someone new swoop in and excite the voters enough to go rogue? —Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for swoop
Cite this Entry
“Swoop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/swoop. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
swoop
1 of 2 verb
: to dive or pounce suddenly like a hawk on its prey
swoop
2 of 2 noun
1
: an act or instance of swooping
2
: a single quickly effective effort
—often used with fell
solved everything at one fell swoop
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