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Synonyms

root for

Idioms  

  1. Cheer on, give moral support to, as in The fans were out rooting for their team, or I've been rooting for you to get that promotion. This expression may come from the British verb rout, which is used of cattle and means “bellow.” [Late 1800s]

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.

This is where Derry Girls star Coughlan popped up from the audience, shrewdly observing that British people "tend to root for the failure of others".

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

Perhaps you’d like to be taken to dinner first, but “Pillion” is about Colin’s needs — specifically his need to please — and first-time feature filmmaker Harry Lighton challenges us to root for his bliss.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

“The hope is the audience cheers for him, right? They root for him,” Tartakovsky concluded.

From Salon • Feb. 1, 2026

Even Jets and Vikes fans would agree: It’s fairly impossible not to root for the guy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

“Oct is the Latin root for eight. So the space between low D and high D is one octave. Can you all show me and sing low D to high D?”

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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.