one fell swoop, in

Also at one fell swoop. All at once, in a single action, as in This law has lifted all the controls on cable TV in one fell swoop. This term was used and probably invented by Shakespeare in Macbeth (4:3), where the playwright likens the murder of Macduff's wife and children to a hawk swooping down on defenseless prey. Although fell here means “cruel” or “ruthless,” this meaning has been lost in the current idiom, where it now signifies “sudden.”

Words nearby one fell swoop, in

one and only, one and the same, one another, one by one, one eye on, one fell swoop, in, one foot in the grave, have, one for the books, one for the road, one good turn deserves another, one if by land, and two if by sea