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.
Some 480,000 Cambodians have been uprooted from their homes, and panic over real or just rumoured Thai air strikes has forced many families to move more than once.
From BBC
Most are followed by restorations, social consciousness being harder to uproot than political structures.
The fires burned thousands of structures across Los Angeles, displacing families and uprooting businesses.
From Los Angeles Times
The social and economic costs of uprooting are bigger than the tax savings.
From Salon
If he had decided to run for the Dallas-area seat, he would have had to resign from Congress, uproot his family and move to Texas.
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.
