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at one fell swoop

at one fell swoop
A a

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [at wuhn fel swoop]
    • /æt wʌn fɛl swup/
    • /ət wʌn fel swuːp/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [at wuhn fel swoop]
    • /æt wʌn fɛl swup/

Definitions of at one fell swoop words

  • verb without object at one fell swoop to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey. 1
  • verb without object at one fell swoop to come down upon something in a sudden, swift attack (often followed by down and on or upon): The army swooped down on the town. 1
  • verb with object at one fell swoop to take, lift, scoop up, or remove with or as with one sweeping motion (often followed by up, away, or off): He swooped her up in his arms. 1
  • noun at one fell swoop an act or instance of swooping; a sudden, swift descent. 1
  • idioms at one fell swoop at / in one fell swoop, all at once or all together, as if by one blow: The quake flattened the houses at one fell swoop. 1
See all 5 definitions of at one fell swoop

Information block about the term

Origin of at one fell swoop

First appearance:

before 1535
One of the 29% oldest English words
1535-45; variant (with close ō) of Middle English swopen, Old English swāpan to sweep1; cognate with German schweifen

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for At one fell swoop

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of At one fell swoop

at one fell swoop popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 82% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

at one fell swoop usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for at one fell swoop

adv at one fell swoop

  • simultaneously — existing, occurring, or operating at the same time; concurrent: simultaneous movements; simultaneous translation.
  • jointly — together; in combination or partnership; in common: My brother and I own the farm jointly.
  • closely — to put (something) in a position to obstruct an entrance, opening, etc.; shut.
  • combined — A combined effort or attack is made by two or more groups of people at the same time.
  • commonly — usually; ordinarily
All 28 Synonyms of at one fell swoop

Antonyms for at one fell swoop

adv at one fell swoop

  • apart — When people or things are apart, they are some distance from each other.
  • individually — one at a time; separately: The delegates were introduced individually.
  • separately — to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space: to separate two fields by a fence.
All 3 Antonyms of at one fell swoop

See also

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