SWOOP, verb transitive [This is probably from sweep, or the same root.] 1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken; a kite swoops up a mouse. 2. To seize; to catchup; to take with a sweep. 3. To pass with violence. SWOOP, verb intransitive To pass with pomp. SWOOP, noun A falling on and seizing, as of a rapacious fowl on his prey. The eagle fell--and carried away a whole litter of cubs at a swoop
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI