/ ruːt; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
OF PLANT
1.
[ C ] the part of a plant that grows under the ground and absorbs water and minerals that it sends to the rest of the plant :
deep spreading roots
I pulled the plant up by (= including) the roots .
Tree roots can cause damage to buildings.
root crops / vegetables (= plants whose roots you can eat, such as carrots)
—picture at plant , tree
—see also grass roots , taproot
OF HAIR / TOOTH / NAIL
2.
[ C ] the part of a hair, tooth, nail or tongue that attaches it to the rest of the body :
hair that is blonde at the ends and dark at the roots
MAIN CAUSE OF PROBLEM
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] the main cause of sth, such as a problem or difficult situation :
Money, or love of money, is said to be the root of all evil.
We have to get to the root of the problem .
What lies at the root of his troubles is a sense of insecurity.
What would you say was the root cause of the problem?
ORIGIN
4.
[ C , usually pl. ] the origin or basis of sth :
Flamenco has its roots in Arabic music.
CONNECTION WITH PLACE
5.
roots [ pl. ] the feelings or connections that you have with a place because you have lived there or your family came from there :
I'm proud of my Italian roots.
After 20 years in America, I still feel my roots are in England.
OF WORD
6.
[ C ] ( linguistics ) the part of a word that has the main meaning and that its other forms are based on; a word that other words are formed from :
'Walk' is the root of 'walks', 'walked', 'walking' and 'walker'.
MATHEMATICS
7.
[ C ] a quantity which, when multiplied by itself a particular number of times, produces another quantity
—see also cube root , square root
•
IDIOMS
- put down roots
- root and branch
- take root
■ verb
OF PLANTS
1.
[ v , vn ] to grow roots; to make or encourage a plant to grow roots
SEARCH
2.
[ v + adv. / prep. ] root (about / around) for sth | root (through sth) (for sth) to search for sth by moving things or turning things over
SYN rummage :
pigs rooting for food
'It must be here somewhere,' she said, rooting through the suitcase.
Who's been rooting around in my desk?
SEX
3.
[ v , vn ] ( AustralE , NZE , taboo , slang ) to have sex with sb
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- root for sb
- root sth/sb out
- root sb to sth
- root sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun late Old English rōt , from Old Norse rót ; related to Latin radix .
verb Old English wrōtan , of Germanic origin; related to Old English wrōt snout , German Rüssel snout, and perhaps ultimately to Latin rodere gnaw.