swoop
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 →
2) A swoop is a quick downward rush, or a sudden attack or raid. tree →
3) «In one fell swoop» means all at once. tree →
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 →
- In spring, magpies swoop on cyclists near their nests. tree →
- A seagull swooped and stole my chip. tree →
- The swallows swooped low over the pond. tree →
- Police swooped on the thieves at dawn. tree →
- Mum swooped in and picked up the crying toddler. tree →
- He cleared the table in one fell swoop. tree →
- He had hardly spoken, before the hawk swooped down and knocked the cup from his hand. tree →
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.
- Magpies can remember human faces, and people who throw things at them often get swooped more.
- For thus saith the LORD: Behold, he shall swoop as a vulture, and shall spread out his wings against Moab.
- And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, He did swoop down upon the wings of the wind.
- They are passed away as the swift ships; as the vulture that swoopeth on the prey.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «swoop» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.