dive-bombed

Swooped down aggressively

Dive-bombed is the past tense of dive-bomb, meaning to attack by swooping down steeply from above, originally describing aircraft that plunge toward a target before releasing bombs: The planes dive-bombed the convoy.

Extended to any aggressive swooping attack: A seagull dive-bombed my sandwich.

Figuratively, to subject someone to sudden, intense criticism or pressure: The committee dive-bombed the proposal.

aviation

strafed

Fired upon from aircraft

attackedActed aggressively against
swoopedDescended suddenly, curved
plungedDropped suddenly and steeply

descended · kamikaze · plummeted · nosedived · targeted · aircraft · altitude · steep · sortie · combat

wildlife

swooped

Descended suddenly, curved

attackedActed aggressively against
peckedStruck with beak
harassedPersistently tormented

mobbed · territorial · nesting · crows · magpies · mockingbirds · seagulls · terns · plovers · protective

informal

plummeted

Fell straight down fast

crashedSuddenly failed or slept
tankedFailed utterly, collapsed
nosedivedFell sharply and suddenly

collapsed · dropped · fell · tumbled · declined · sank · stocks · ratings · prices · markets

Opposites

attack trajectory/angle

dive-bombedcarpet-bombed

Attacked an area indiscriminately

strategic bombing · strafed

altitude direction during attack

dive-bombedclimbed

Moved upward laboriously

ascended · pulled up · soared · leveled off

combat action type

dive-bombedretreated

Moved backward from advance

fled · evaded · withdrew · disengaged · defended

Family

divebombed

Familiarity: Top 200,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG