swoop

Universal Words verb, noun verb [V] 1 [usually +adv./prep.] (of a bird or plane) to fly quickly and suddenly downwards, especially in order to attack sb/sth: The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. * A hawk swooped low over the field. 2 ~ (on sb/sth) (especially of police or soldiers) to visit or attack sb/sth suddenly and without warning: Officers swooped on the vehicles as they left the ferry. noun 1 an act of moving suddenly and quickly through the air in a downward direction, as a bird does 2 ~ (on sth/sb) an act of arriving somewhere or attacking sth/sb in a way that is sudden and unexpected: Large quantities of drugs were found during a police swoop on the star's New York home. IDIOMS see FELLadj.