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   swoop

   /swuːp/

   verb

   • 1. (especially of a bird) move rapidly downwards through the air: "the barn owl can swoop down on a mouse in total darkness" Similar divedescendsweeppouncedropplummetplungepitchnosediverushdartspeedzoom
   • ▪ carry out a sudden attack, especially in order to make a capture or arrest: "armed police swooped on a flat after a tip-off" Similar raidsearchpouncemake a raidattackassaultassailchargeinformal:bust
   • 2. seize with a swooping motion: informal "she swooped up the hen in her arms"

   noun

   • 1. a swooping or snatching movement or action: "four members were arrested following a swoop by detectives on their homes"

   Word Origin mid 16th century (in the sense ‘sweep along in a stately manner’): perhaps a dialect variant of Old English swāpan (see sweep). The early sense of the noun was ‘a blow, stroke’.

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • S

     1

   • W

     4

   • O

     1

   • O

     1

   • P

     3

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