swoop

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• intransitive verb To move in a sudden sweep.
• intransitive verb To make a rush or an attack with a sudden sweeping movement. Often used with down.
• intransitive verb To seize or snatch in a sudden sweeping movement.
• noun The act or an instance of swooping.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To move along with a rush; sweep; pass with pomp.
• To descend upon, or as if upon, prey suddenly from a height, as a hawk; stoop.
• To fall on at once and seize; dash upon and seize while on the wing: often with up: as, a hawk swoops a chicken; a kite swoops up a mouse.
• To seize; catch up; take with a sweep.
• noun The sudden pouncing of a rapacious bird on its prey; a falling on and seizing, as of a bird on its prey; hence, a sudden descent, as of a body of troops; a sweeping movement.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To descend with closed wings from a height upon prey, as a hawk; to stoop.
• intransitive verb obsolete To pass with pomp; to sweep.
• transitive verb To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing.
• transitive verb To seize; to catch up; to take with a sweep.
• noun A falling on and seizing, as the prey of a rapacious bird; the act of swooping.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• verb to fly or glide downwards suddenly; to plunge (in the air) or nosedive
• verb to move swiftly, as if with a sweeping movement, especially to attack something
• noun an instance, or the act of suddenly plunging downward
• noun an act of rushedly doing something
• noun music passing quickly from one note to the next

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a swift descent through the air
• noun a very rapid raid
• noun (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale
• verb move down on as if in an attack
• verb seize or catch with a swooping motion
• verb move with a sweep, or in a swooping arc