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]
雙語例句
1. The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop.
老鷹在半空中盤旋，準備俯沖。
來自《權威詞典》
2. The plane made a swoop over the city.
那架飛機突然向這座城市猛降下來.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
3. In one fell swoop the bank wiped away the tentative benefits of this policy.
銀行一下子就抹殺了這項政策暫時帶來的好處。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Police held 10 suspected illegal immigrants after a swoop on a German lorry.
警察對一輛德國卡車進行突擊搜查后扣留了10名可疑的非法移民。
來自柯林斯例句
5. It seemed that the plane was going to swoop down and strafe the town, so we dived for cover.