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One stroke; one action or event that achieves or accomplishes many results.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
Examples
- Changing the oil lubricates the engine and removes debris in one fell swoop.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
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.
Across languages
Translations
25 source translations are retained for this English entry.
-
Bashkir:
һә тигәнсе
(hə tigənse)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Bashkir:
күҙ асып йомғансы
(küź asıp yomğansı)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Catalan:
de cop i volta
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Catalan:
tot de cop
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Esperanto:
per unuopa svingo
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Finnish:
yhdellä iskulla
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Finnish:
kertaheitolla
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
French:
d'un seul coup
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
French:
d’un coup d’un seul
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
German:
in einem Rutsch
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
German:
mit einem Schlag
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Hebrew:
אִבְחַת חֶרֶב
(ivẖát ẖérev)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Italian:
in un colpo solo
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Japanese:
一撃
(ichigeki)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Japanese:
一挙
(ikkyo)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Japanese:
一気
(ikki)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Polish:
za jednym zamachem
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Portuguese:
de uma só vez
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Portuguese:
de uma só tacada
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Romanian:
dintr-o lovitură
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Russian:
одни́м ма́хом
(odním máxom)
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Spanish:
de repente
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Thai:
ในรวดเดียว
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Turkish:
tek hamlede
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
-
Turkish:
bir kalemde
— one stroke; one action or event with many results
