An explanation of the phrase “one fell swoop” in Act 3, Scene 4 of myShakespeare’s Macbeth.
Macduff
He has no children. All my pretty ones,
Did you say all? O hell-kite, all?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?
This common phrase comes from this line in Macbeth; you’ve probably heard it in everyday conversation. A “swoop” is the attacking dive of a bird of prey.
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