root

Study(23)

UK /ɹuːt/ US /ɹʊt/

verb 10noun 8name 5

Collocations

(noun.) of a plant

ADJ

deep, shallow | gnarled

ROOT + VERB

develop, grow

put down, take

After moving to the new town, my family finally felt ready to put down roots.

ROOT + NOUN

system | crops, vegetables

PREP

by its/the ~s

The farmer grabbed the weeds by their roots and yanked them from the garden.

(noun.) roots: place where you feel you belong

ADJ

humble

The successful businesswoman always remembered her humble roots in a small farming village.

cultural

My grandmother's cooking reflects our family's cultural roots in Italy.

middle-class, peasant, working-class | French, Scottish, etc.

VERB + ROOT

get/go back to, return to

After living in the city for years, she decided to return to her cultural roots and move back home.

trace

Maria traced her family roots back to a small village in Italy.

put down

After living in the city for five years, she finally decided to put down roots and buy a house.

cut yourself off from

(noun.) cause/source

ADJ

deep | very

common

Many English words have a common root in Latin or Greek.

historical

VERB + ROOT

have

get at/to, go to

The detective finally went to the root of the mystery after interviewing all the witnesses.

lie at

ROOT + NOUN

cause

PREP

at (the ~ of)

The problem with their relationship was jealousy at the very root of it all.

~ in

Her interest in painting is rooted in childhood visits to art museums.

PHRASES

the root of all evil

Many people blame money as the root of all evil in society.

the root of the matter/problem

We need to understand the root of the problem before we can fix it.

Definitions

noun

The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.

(obsolete)

This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.

A root vegetable.

[...] two fields which should have been sown with roots in the early summer were not sown because the ploughing had not been completed early enough.

The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.

(archaic)

Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.

The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place.

The root is the only part of the hair that is alive.

The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated.

He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen.

verb

To grow roots; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow.

The cuttings are starting to root.

In deep grounds the weeds root the deeper.

To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings.

We rooted some cuttings last summer.

To fix firmly; to establish.

If any irregularity chanced to intervene and to cause misapprehensions, he gave them not leave to root and fasten by concealment.

Small theater companies come and go very quickly — many times after one show — but community response to Triangle has been strong, and there is a good chance that they will make it through those early growing stages and firmly root.

To get root or privileged access on (a computer system or mobile phone), often through bypassing some security mechanism.

We rooted his box and planted a virus on it.

I want to root my Android phone so I can remove the preinstalled crapware.

verb

To turn up or dig with the snout.

A pig roots the earth for truffles.

Such tunges ſhuld be torne out by the harde rootes,

To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn.

Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!

To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil.

rooting about in a junk-filled drawer

Of a baby: to turn the head and open the mouth in search of food.

When your baby is rooting, his head will turn to the side and he will open and close his mouth. If you put your finger in your baby's hand, she has a grasping reflex that makes her curl her fingers around yours and hold on.

To root out; to abolish.

I will go root away the noisome weeds.

The Lord rooted them out of their land [...] and cast them into another land.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are remov

noun — a simple form inferred as the common basis from which relate

etymon

noun — the set of values that give a true statement when substitute

solution

noun — the place where something begins, where it springs into bein

noun — someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote

verb — become settled or established and stable in one's residence

settle

verb — dig with the snout

rout
rootle

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

root around

Alternative form of root about.

She began to root around in her bag for the keys.

root cause

An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest.

However, the report finds that the "root cause has not yet been established".

money is the root of all evil

The desire for money is the root cause of all evil.

the love of money is the root of all evil

Synonym of money is the root of all evil.

Example Bank

(obsolete)

Wiktionary

This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground.

Wiktionary

A Greek historian Phylarchus describes a white root indigenous to India that caused eunuchism when a person bathed in water in which the root was steeped.

Wiktionary

The cuttings are starting to root.

Wiktionary

In deep grounds the weeds root the deeper.

Wiktionary

Some old, underfired clay pantiles might be damaged by button mosses rooting in cracks and fissures. But most post-war tiles are hard enough to withstand a bit of moss growth.

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, root is marked as slang, vulgar, US. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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