Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SWOOP, v.t. [This is probably from sweep, or the same root.]

1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken; a kite swoops up a mouse.
2. To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep. – Glanville.
3. To pass with violence. [Not in use.] – Drayton.