1560s, "to move or walk in a stately manner," apparently from a dialectal survival of Old English swapan "to sweep, brandish, dash," from Proto-Germanic *swaip-, from PIE root *swei- (2) "to bend, turn" (see swivel (n.)). Meaning "pounce upon with a sweeping movement" first recorded 1630s (see swoop (n.)). Spelling with -oo- may have been influenced by Scottish and northern England dialectal soop "to sweep," from Old Norse sopa "to sweep." Related: Swooped; swooping.
swoop (n.)
1540s, "a blow, stroke," from swoop (v.). Meaning "the sudden pouncing of a rapacious bird on its prey" is 1605, from Shakespeare:
Oh, Hell-Kite! All? What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme, At one fell swoope? ["Macbeth," IV.iii.219]
中文解释
swoop：食物扑。像肉食动物扑向食物一样——猛扑，突然袭击。
实用例句
1. The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop.
老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。来自《权威词典》
2. The plane made a swoop over the city.
那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来.来自《简明英汉词典》
3. In one fell swoop the bank wiped away the tentative benefits of this policy.
银行一下子就抹杀了这项政策暂时带来的好处。来自柯林斯例句
4. Police held 10 suspected illegal immigrants after a swoop on a German lorry.
警察对一辆德国卡车进行突击搜查后扣留了10名可疑的非法移民。来自柯林斯例句
5. It seemed that the plane was going to swoop down and strafe the town, so we dived for cover.
