uproot
Americanverb (used with object)
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uproots,
present (3rd person singular)
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uprooted,
past participle, past
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uprooting
present participle
-
to pull out by or as if by the roots.
The hurricane uprooted many trees and telephone poles.
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to remove violently or tear away from a native place or environment.
The industrial revolution uprooted large segments of the rural population.
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to destroy or eradicate as if by pulling out roots.
The conquerors uprooted many of the Native traditions.
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to displace, as from a home or country; tear away, as from customs or a way of life.
to uproot a people.
verb (used without object)
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uproots,
present (3rd person singular)
-
uprooted,
past participle, past
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uprooting
present participle
verb
-
to pull up by or as if by the roots
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to displace (a person or persons) from native or habitual surroundings
-
to remove or destroy utterly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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uprootsimple
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uprootssimple
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have uprootedperfect
-
has uprootedperfect
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am uprootingprogressive
-
are uprootingprogressive
-
is uprootingprogressive
-
have been uprootingperfect progressive
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has been uprootingperfect progressive
Past
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uprootedsimple
-
had uprootedperfect
-
was uprootingprogressive
-
were uprootingprogressive
-
had been uprootingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of uproot
Explanation
When you uproot people, you move them from one place to a completely new one. Your parents may need to uproot you if your mom gets a new job all the way across the country. One meaning of the verb uproot is "move," especially when a person is forced to move. Another way to use uproot is more literal: to pull a plant out of the ground, roots and all. You might, for example, uproot your favorite rose bush and replant it in a sunnier spot in your garden. Interestingly, the figurative sense of uproot is about a hundred years older than the literal meaning, which was first used in the late 1600's.
Vocabulary lists containing uproot
Outcasts United
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Purple Hibiscus
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Elijah of Buxton
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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.
See Examples For:
Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison faces a pivotal decision: Should he uproot his Hollywood studio — the birthplace of such film classics as “Sunset Boulevard,” “The Godfather” and “Beverly Hills Cop”?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
But Reger has no plans to uproot Neura's business, which is collaborating with German car component suppliers Bosch and Schaeffler on factory automation.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
An estimated 75,000—some 2.5% of the population—had no desire to live within an independent republic that held memories of “terror, disillusion, and death,” preferring to uproot themselves to Canada and beyond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
I would uproot some and eat them raw.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
Owners say they are easy to carry and set up and are safer than umbrellas, which can cause injuries or death when the wind uproots them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
It definitely is a very important topic, and something that needs to be addressed in a way that uproots all of it.
From The Verge ● Mar. 29, 2022
Waterwell’s version uproots it to Connecticut, but without any real feeling of place or circumstance.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2022
In her 1910 autobiography, she wrote of the Santa Ana wind that “its breath dries up the plants, gives headaches to people, and prostrates them … it uproots trees, tears off roofs, and devastates fields.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2021
I think one ought, at present, to esteem idleness as the only virtue in the world, since it is that which uproots all the vices.
From The Women of the French Salons by Amelia Ruth Gere Mason
Three successive hurricanes tore through the spine of Florida’s citrus belt and uprooted entire groves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Yemen's years-long civil conflict killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and drove the country to the brink of famine before a 2022 truce restored relative calm.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
Aamer Jamal had his middle stump uprooted in Greaves' next over as the seamer speared one through his defences.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
At least three former colleagues of mine have uprooted their families, changed jobs and moved overseas within the last few years.
From Salon ● May 31, 2026
He had never been uprooted; he had lived all his life in a secure home in Calcutta.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Florence Chapelier, 53, moved to Normandy from the south of France last year, uprooting her and husband’s architectural-design business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
In exchange for uprooting their coca plants, farmers would also get technical support, including from agronomists, and advice on soil management.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
It’s hard to predict if uprooting yourself will bring more pros and fewer cons.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
More than a million people displaced from the south face an "uprooting... with terrible repercussions," she said.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Everything came tumbling down after Palm Sunday Howhng winds came with an angry rain, uprooting frangipani trees in the front yard.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
