root-and-branch
adjective
on a large scale or without discrimination; wholesale
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root-and-branch
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root and branch
root and branchUtterly, completely, as in The company has been transformed root and branch by the new management. Alluding to both the underground and aboveground parts of a tree, this idiom was first recorded in 1640.
root-and-branch
Britishadjective
adverb
root and branch
Idioms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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The author ties his root-and-branch critique of capitalism to a plea to “make modern life much more affordable than it is at present,” which he hopes will open more opportunities for enlightened leisure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
The last one, less than three years ago, produced a surprise win for the progressive Move Forward party, which had campaigned on promises of root-and-branch political and economic reforms.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
And because of its hallowed status as a national treasure, any efforts at root-and-branch change quickly run up against political resistance.
From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2023
But this is the first time he’s dug root-and-branch into a decades-old genre he’d only glanced at before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2022
He had a bold, forward-looking mind, and was in favour of root-and-branch changes.
From War Letters of a Public-School Boy by Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones
When any side embarks on the sort of root and branch revolution the Italian presided over this summer, it is inevitable there will be teething problems and time required for understandings and relationships to form.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
He believes the regulatory system needs a "root and branch review".
From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2025
Tory shadow finance minister Peter Fox also called for a "root and branch review so that taxpayers' money is well-spent and efficiently allocated".
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2024
Not at his attempts to wreak personal vengeance, reconstitute Washington root and branch, or engineer a lasting partisan realignment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2024
Where it touched the ground it melted, but all about him rock and root and branch wore a thin blanket of white.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
