Swooping

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Swoop \Swoop\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Swooped}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Swooping}.] [OE. swopen, usually, to sweep, As. sw[=a]pan to
     sweep, to rush; akin to G. schweifen to rove, to ramble, to
     curve, OHG. sweifan to whirl, Icel. sveipa to sweep; also to
     AS. sw[imac]fan to move quickly. Cf. {Sweep}, {Swift}, a. &
     n., {Swipe}, {Swivel}.]


     1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing;
        as, a hawk swoops a chicken.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And now at last you came to swoop it all. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The grazing ox which swoops it [the medicinal herb]
              in with the common grass.             --Glanvill.
        [1913 Webster]