in one fell swoop

I i

Definitions of in one fell swoop words

verb without object in one fell swoop to sweep through the air, as a bird or a bat, especially down upon prey. 1
verb without object in 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 in 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 in one fell swoop an act or instance of swooping; a sudden, swift descent. 1
idioms in 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
phrase in one fell swoop If something is done in one fell swoop or at one fell swoop, it is done on a single occasion or by a single action. 0

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

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

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.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

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