Meanings
- idiomaticOne stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results.
Changing the oil lubricates the engine and removes debris in one fell swoop.
3 more examples
...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.
, Episode 16There can be few examples in the history of railways of a reduction of sixteen hours in the running time of one train, at one fell swoop, but this has been achieved by the Canadian Pacific Railway with its transcontinental train service, an advance without any parallel in the record of Canada's railways, and the first major timetable change of any sort for several decades.
1955 June, Robert F. Legget, “Dieselisation of Canadian Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 417Remember 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.
2023 July 26, Pip Dunn, “Merseyrail '777s' are OK for commuters”, in RAIL, number 988, page 59
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan de cop i volta, tot de cop
- de cop i voltaone stroke; one action or event with many results
- tot de copone stroke; one action or event with many results
Esperanto per unuopa svingo
- per unuopa svingoone stroke; one action or event with many results
Finnish yhdellä iskulla, kertaheitolla
- yhdellä iskullaone stroke; one action or event with many results
- kertaheitollaone stroke; one action or event with many results
French d'un seul coup, d’un coup d’un seul
- d'un seul coupone stroke; one action or event with many results
- d’un coup d’un seulone stroke; one action or event with many results
German in einem Rutsch, mit einem Schlag
- in einem Rutschone stroke; one action or event with many results
- mit einem Schlagone stroke; one action or event with many results
Hebrew אִבְחַת חֶרֶב
- אִבְחַת חֶרֶב (ivẖát ẖérev)one stroke; one action or event with many results
Italian in un colpo solo
- in un colpo soloone stroke; one action or event with many results
Japanese 一撃, 一挙
- 一撃 (ichigeki)one stroke; one action or event with many results
- 一挙 (ikkyo)one stroke; one action or event with many results
- 一気 (ikki)one stroke; one action or event with many results
Polish za jednym zamachem
- za jednym zamachemone stroke; one action or event with many results
Portuguese de uma só vez, de uma só tacada
- de uma só vezone stroke; one action or event with many results
- de uma só tacadaone stroke; one action or event with many results
Romanian dintr-o lovitură
- dintr-o loviturăone stroke; one action or event with many results
Russian одни́м ма́хом
- одни́м ма́хом (odním máxom)one stroke; one action or event with many results
Spanish de repente
- de repenteone stroke; one action or event with many results
Thai ในรวดเดียว
- ในรวดเดียวone stroke; one action or event with many results
Turkish tek hamlede, bir kalemde
- tek hamledeone stroke; one action or event with many results
- bir kalemdeone stroke; one action or event with many results
Cite this entry
one fell swoop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20fell%20swoop
“one fell swoop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20fell%20swoop. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “one fell swoop,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20fell%20swoop.
Source: one fell swoop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.