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.
