Library / English Dictionary

SWOOP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A swift descent through the air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swoop" is a kind of...):

descent (the act of changing your location in a downward direction)

Derivation:

swoop (move down on as if in an attack)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A very rapid raid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swoop" is a kind of...):

foray; maraud; raid (a sudden short attack)

Derivation:

swoop (seize or catch with a swooping motion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale

Example:

the violinist was indulgent with his swoops and slides

Synonyms:

slide; swoop

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("swoop" is a kind of...):

glissando (a rapid series of ascending or descending notes on the musical scale)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Derivation:

swoop (move with a sweep, or in a swooping arc)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Seize or catch with a swooping motion

Synonyms:

swoop; swoop up

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "swoop" is one way to...):

snap; snatch; snatch up (to grasp hastily or eagerly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

swoop (a very rapid raid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move down on as if in an attack

Example:

The teacher swooped down upon the new students

Synonyms:

pounce; swoop

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swoop" is one way to...):

come down; descend; fall; go down (move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swoop"):

stoop (descend swiftly, as if on prey)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

swoop (a swift descent through the air)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move with a sweep, or in a swooping arc

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swoop" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

swoop ((music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale)

Credits

 Context examples: 

They swoop upon us like two goshawks on a heron.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the open plain clouds of light horse galloped and swooped with swaying bodies and waving javelins, after the fashion which the Spanish had adopted from their Moorish enemies.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At each end of the yard there did indeed hang the dark figure of a man, jolting and lurching with hideous jerkings of its limbs at every plunge and swoop of the galley.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As he spoke, the two wings of the Spanish host, consisting of the Knights of Calatrava on the one side and of Santiago upon the other, came swooping swiftly down the valley, while the main body followed more slowly behind.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He whipped it back with an oath, while she tore herself free and slipped behind Alleyne, cowering up against him like the trembling leveret who sees the falcon poising for the swoop above him.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)