uproot

[uhp-root, -root]

verb (used with object)

1. to pull out by or as if by the roots: root.

   The hurricane uprooted many trees and telephone poles.

2. to remove violently or tear away from a native place or environment.

   The industrial revolution uprooted large segments of the rural population.

3. to destroy or eradicate as if by pulling out roots: root.

   The conquerors uprooted many of the Native traditions.

   Synonyms: remove, eliminate, banish, extirpate

4. 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)

1. to become uprooted.

uproot

/ ʌpˈruːt /

verb

1. to pull up by or as if by the roots

2. to displace (a person or persons) from native or habitual surroundings

3. to remove or destroy utterly

Other Word Forms

• uprootedness noun
• uprooter noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of uproot¹

First recorded in 1610–20; up- + root ²

Example Sentences

More than 12 million people have been uprooted from their homes, according to aid workers, and the U.S. estimates that as many as 150,000 people may have been killed in the conflict.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

So that's what they did, uprooting their lives to a log cabin in the Tennessean woods.

Read more on BBC

As women water vegetables and uproot weeds in a rural corner of north-eastern Nigeria, men in uniform stand guard nearby holding huge rifles.

Read more on BBC

Though Shelvey has uprooted from the UK, the 33-year-old said the north east was "the only place there he would want to live".

Read more on BBC

“The Rada’a force is determined to enforce order and uproot gangs and militias, and will strike with an iron fist anyone who tampers with the security of the home front,” the group said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• annihilate 
• demolish 
• displace 
• eradicate 
• exterminate 
• overthrow 
• overturn 
• wipe out