"one fell swoop" meaning in All languages combined

See one fell swoop on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: en-au-one fell swoop.ogg
Etymology: After Shakespeare, in Macbeth, act iv, scene 3, where Macduff learns his wife and entire family are murdered: : Ro. Wife, Children, Servants, all that could be found. […] : Macd. […] All my pretty ones? Did you say All? Oh Hell-Kite! All? What, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme At one fell swoope? The imagery is of a bird of prey ("hell-kite") ransacking a whole nest at one blow, fell meaning "terrible, cruel, savage." In later uses of the expression, the force of the metaphor is reduced or lost. Head templates: {{head|en|noun}} one fell swoop
  1. (idiomatic) One stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: Gordian knot, swoop, at one stroke, kill two birds with one stone, in one foul swoop Translations (one stroke; one action or event with many results): һә тигәнсе (hə tigənse) (Bashkir), күҙ асып йомғансы (küź asıp yomğansı) (Bashkir), de cop i volta (Catalan), tot de cop (Catalan), per unuopa svingo (Esperanto), yhdellä iskulla (Finnish), kertaheitolla (Finnish), d’un seul coup (French), d’un coup d’un seul (French), in einem Rutsch (German), mit einem Schlag (German), אִבְחַת חֶרֶב (ivẖát ẖérev) [feminine] (Hebrew), in un colpo solo (Italian), 一撃 (ichigeki) (Japanese), 一挙 (ikkyo) (Japanese), 一気 (ikki) (Japanese), za jednym zamachem (Polish), de uma só vez (Portuguese), de uma só tacada (Portuguese), dintr-o lovitură (Romanian), одни́м ма́хом (odním máxom) (Russian), de repente (Spanish), tek hamlede (Turkish), bir kalemde (Turkish)

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "After Shakespeare, in Macbeth, act iv, scene 3, where Macduff learns his wife and entire family are murdered:\n: Ro. Wife, Children, Servants, all that could be found. […]\n: Macd. […] All my pretty ones?\nDid you say All? Oh Hell-Kite! All?\nWhat, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme\nAt one fell swoope?\nThe imagery is of a bird of prey (\"hell-kite\") ransacking a whole nest at one blow, fell meaning \"terrible, cruel, savage.\" In later uses of the expression, the force of the metaphor is reduced or lost.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "one fell swoop",
      "name": "head"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Changing the oil lubricates the engine and removes debris in one fell swoop.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": ", Episode 16",
          "text": "...they might be hanging about there or simply marauders ready to decamp with whatever boodle they could in one fell swoop at a moment's notice, your money or your life, leaving you there to point a moral, gagged and garrotted."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 26, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for commuters”, in RAIL, number 988, page 59:",
          "text": "Remember that these trains will serve Aintree on race days and both Anfield and Goodison Park (and soon Everton FC's new stadium), so there will be times when they are packed to the gunwales with passengers - albeit, disgorging their footfall at one station in one fell swoop.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results."
      ],
      "id": "en-one_fell_swoop-en-noun-~-byZuNt",
      "links": [
        [
          "stroke",
          "stroke"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
        ],
        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
        ],
        [
          "accomplish",
          "accomplish"
        ],
        [
          "result",
          "result"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) One stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "Gordian knot"
        },
        {
          "word": "swoop"
        },
        {
          "word": "at one stroke"
        },
        {
          "word": "kill two birds with one stone"
        },
        {
          "word": "in one foul swoop"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ba",
          "lang": "Bashkir",
          "roman": "hə tigənse",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "һә тигәнсе"
        },
        {
          "code": "ba",
          "lang": "Bashkir",
          "roman": "küź asıp yomğansı",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "күҙ асып йомғансы"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "de cop i volta"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "tot de cop"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "per unuopa svingo"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "yhdellä iskulla"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "kertaheitolla"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "d’un seul coup"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "d’un coup d’un seul"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "in einem Rutsch"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "mit einem Schlag"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "ivẖát ẖérev",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "אִבְחַת חֶרֶב"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "in un colpo solo"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ichigeki",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "一撃"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ikkyo",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "一挙"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ikki",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "一気"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "za jednym zamachem"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "de uma só vez"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "de uma só tacada"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "dintr-o lovitură"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "odním máxom",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "одни́м ма́хом"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "de repente"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "tek hamlede"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
          "word": "bir kalemde"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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  ],
  "word": "one fell swoop"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "After Shakespeare, in Macbeth, act iv, scene 3, where Macduff learns his wife and entire family are murdered:\n: Ro. Wife, Children, Servants, all that could be found. […]\n: Macd. […] All my pretty ones?\nDid you say All? Oh Hell-Kite! All?\nWhat, All my pretty Chickens, and their Damme\nAt one fell swoope?\nThe imagery is of a bird of prey (\"hell-kite\") ransacking a whole nest at one blow, fell meaning \"terrible, cruel, savage.\" In later uses of the expression, the force of the metaphor is reduced or lost.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "one fell swoop",
      "name": "head"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "Gordian knot"
    },
    {
      "word": "swoop"
    },
    {
      "word": "at one stroke"
    },
    {
      "word": "kill two birds with one stone"
    },
    {
      "word": "in one foul swoop"
    }
  ],
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    {
      "categories": [
        "Bashkir terms with redundant script codes",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms first attested in Shakespeare",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
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        "Terms with Bashkir translations",
        "Terms with Catalan translations",
        "Terms with Esperanto translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Hebrew translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Romanian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Turkish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Changing the oil lubricates the engine and removes debris in one fell swoop.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": ", Episode 16",
          "text": "...they might be hanging about there or simply marauders ready to decamp with whatever boodle they could in one fell swoop at a moment's notice, your money or your life, leaving you there to point a moral, gagged and garrotted."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 26, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for commuters”, in RAIL, number 988, page 59:",
          "text": "Remember that these trains will serve Aintree on race days and both Anfield and Goodison Park (and soon Everton FC's new stadium), so there will be times when they are packed to the gunwales with passengers - albeit, disgorging their footfall at one station in one fell swoop.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "stroke",
          "stroke"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ],
        [
          "event",
          "event"
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        [
          "achieve",
          "achieve"
        ],
        [
          "accomplish",
          "accomplish"
        ],
        [
          "result",
          "result"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) One stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-one fell swoop.ogg",
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ba",
      "lang": "Bashkir",
      "roman": "hə tigənse",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "һә тигәнсе"
    },
    {
      "code": "ba",
      "lang": "Bashkir",
      "roman": "küź asıp yomğansı",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "күҙ асып йомғансы"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "de cop i volta"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "tot de cop"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "per unuopa svingo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "yhdellä iskulla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "kertaheitolla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "d’un seul coup"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "d’un coup d’un seul"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "in einem Rutsch"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "mit einem Schlag"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "ivẖát ẖérev",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "אִבְחַת חֶרֶב"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "in un colpo solo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ichigeki",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "一撃"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ikkyo",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "一挙"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ikki",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "一気"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "za jednym zamachem"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "de uma só vez"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "de uma só tacada"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "dintr-o lovitură"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "odním máxom",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "одни́м ма́хом"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "de repente"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "tek hamlede"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "one stroke; one action or event with many results",
      "word": "bir kalemde"
    }
  ],
  "word": "one fell swoop"
}

Download raw JSONL data for one fell swoop meaning in All languages combined (6.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.