Idiom
One fell swoop
If you do several things in one fell swoop, you do them all at once, in a single quick action.
How people use it
Today the phrase is usually neutral or even positive: "We paid off three bills in one fell swoop." The usual form is "in one fell swoop"; "at one fell swoop" is older and more British. The word fell is an old adjective meaning fierce or cruel, not the past tense of fall, which is why people sometimes mishear the phrase as "one foul swoop." That version is a common mistake. The original sense was sudden and destructive, and you can still hear that edge when people describe sweeping cuts or losses.
Also said: in one fell swoop, at one fell swoop.
Examples
- The new software updated all two hundred laptops in one fell swoop.
- Ana cleared out her inbox in one fell swoop by deleting every message older than a year.
- A single windstorm knocked down three of the old trees on our street in one fell swoop.
Where it comes from
It comes from Shakespeare's Macbeth, written around 1606. When the nobleman Macduff hears terrible news about his family, he compares the blow to a bird of prey diving on a hen and all her chicks "at one fell swoop." A swoop is a hunting bird's sudden dive, and fell meant savage. Over the centuries the phrase lost its dark meaning, and now it usually just means all at once.
Check yourself
1. What does "in one fell swoop" mean?
Answer: All at once, in a single action. In one fell swoop means everything happens together in one quick move.
2. Which version of the phrase is correct?
Answer: In one fell swoop. Fell is an old word for fierce. "Foul swoop" and "fall swoop" are common mishearings.
Similar idioms
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