put down roots

1. Settle somewhere, become established, as in We've put down roots here and don't want to move away. This metaphoric expression, first recorded in 1921, likens the rooting of a plant to human settlement.

Example Sentences

"Once in the UK, asylum seekers are able to exploit the fact that they have had children and put down roots in order to thwart removal, even if their claim has been legally refused," the document says.

Read more on BBC

After living elsewhere for years, many had put down roots in new towns.

Read more on Literature

The project pipeline is so long that some newcomers have put down roots.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Instead, the family put down roots in Padthaway in South Australia, where Clarke would spend the rest of his childhood alongside his three younger siblings: Jodie, Aaron, and Angie.

Read more on MarketWatch

And that it can be difficult to put down roots, because of the need to do placements in different parts of the country.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• continue 
• delay 
• hang 
• last 
• linger 
• remain 
• reside 
• settle 
• stand 
• stick around 
• stop