uproot
Americanverb (used with object)
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to pull out by or as if by the roots: root.
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: root.
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)
verb
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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
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to remove or destroy utterly
Other Word Forms
- uprootedness noun
- uprooter noun
Etymology
Origin of uproot
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.
Because it means moving us around, uprooting our family.
From Los Angeles Times
Later, when the kids were adults, the family uprooted to California.
From Los Angeles Times
In the summer, he uprooted and paved over the iconic Rose Garden with flagstones and café style tables, replete with umbrellas, inspired by his Mar-a-Lago club.
From Salon
“I couldn’t be Nicolas’ roots because I was completely uprooted, unbalanced, lost in that crazy world,” she explained years later.
From Los Angeles Times
Speaking in four different languages, Pepe shares its impressions about being uprooted from its African homeland and on the power dynamics among the hippos once in South America.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
