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 CCRC's senior leadership, starting with the CEO, must also resign to pave the way for root-and-branch reform.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2025
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
Thus the would-be root-and-branch reforms found themselves in a dilemma.
From Russia by Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace
The report, produced along with the former Conservative policing minister Lord Herbert for the College of Policing, will recommend a "root and branch modernisation" of recruitment, development and monitoring within the service.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
A House of Lords report released in October found that serious waste crime was being "critically under-prioritised" and ordered a "root and branch" inquiry into how "endemic" waste crime was being tackled.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
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
The general's speech comes one week after the government launched a "root and branch" defence review to "take a fresh look" at the challenges facing the armed forces.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 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.
