root
根,根基,根源,根部
Related Words
Definitions
- 1
- : a part of the body of a plant that develops, typically, from the radicle and grows downward into the soil, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutriment and moisture.
- : a similar organ developed from some other part of a plant, as one of those by which ivy clings to its support.
- : any underground part of a plant, as a rhizome.
- : something resembling or suggesting the root of a plant in position or function: roots of wires and cables.
- : the embedded or basal portion of a hair, tooth, nail, nerve, etc.
- : the fundamental or essential part: the root of a matter.
- : the source or origin of a thing: The love of money is the root of all evil.
- : a person or family as the source of offspring or descendants.
- : an offshoot or scion.
- : Mathematics. Also called nth root .a quantity that, when raised to the nth power, produces a given quantity: The number 2 is the square root of 4, the cube root of 8, and the fourth root of 16.a value of the argument of a function for which the function takes the value zero.
- : Computers. Also called root directory .the topmost directory of a hierarchical file system.the UNIX account, having the username “root,” that allows administrator privileges.
- : Grammar. a morpheme that underlies an inflectional or derivational paradigm, as dance, the root in danced, dancer, or ten-, the root of Latin tendere “to stretch.”such a form reconstructed for a parent language, as *sed-, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European root meaning “sit.”
- : roots, a person's original or true home, environment, and culture: He's lived in New York for twenty years, but his roots are in France.the personal relationships, affinity for a locale, habits, and the like, that make a country, region, city, or town one's true home: He lived in Tulsa for a few years, but never established any roots there.personal identification with a culture, religion, etc., seen as promoting the development of the character or the stability of society as a whole.
- : Music. the fundamental tone of a compound tone or of a series of harmonies.the lowest tone of a chord when arranged as a series of thirds; the fundamental.
- : Machinery. the narrow inner surface between threads.Compare crest, flank. the narrow inner surface between teeth.
- : Australian Informal. an act of sexual intercourse.
- : Shipbuilding. the inner angle of an angle iron.
- 1
- : to fix by or as if by roots: We were rooted to the spot by surprise.
- : to implant or establish deeply: Good manners were rooted in him like a second nature.
- : to pull, tear, or dig up by the roots.
- : to extirpate; exterminate; remove completely: to root out crime.
- : Digital Technology. to gain access to the operating system of, as to alter system files or settings.Compare jailbreak. to install a rootkit on.
- 1
- : to become fixed or established.
- : Digital Technology. to manipulate the operating system of a smartphone, tablet, etc.Compare jailbreak.
Phrases
- root and branch
- rooted to the spot
- root for
- root of the matter
- root out
- put down roots
- take root
Synonyms & Antonyms
Examples
The Public Advocate Office argued that might allow for grasses and non-native species, which are much more fire-prone, to take root.
Finally, Dame Judi Dench was nominated for a 2013 Oscar for “Philomena,” a moving fact-based dramedy rooted in the horrific scandal of the Magdalen Sisters in Ireland.
Their sense of powerlessness, whether real or imagined, is at the root of their despair.
The “sponge” holds moisture within itself—as sponges do—keeping that moisture from filtering down deeper where it would no longer reach plants’ roots, and enhancing the effects of fertilizer.
When you modify gravity, you’re trying to go back to the roots of what space-time is — the left-hand side — and seeing if there’s a modification that makes sense.
A Republican candidate hoping to win red state support could find a worse team to root for than one from Dallas.
Last summer, I spoke with first black supermodel Beverly Johnson about this for The Root.
It has grown from a rotten root—striving to replace human judgment with detailed dictates.
The root of the word irony is in the Greek eironeia, “liar.”
Speak to the friends and people you need to root out in life and let that conversation flow.
He is what the bill wishes to make for us, a regular root doctor, and will suit the place exactly.
But at the root of the unnatural miracles is the natural miracle—the heart of man.
You see, I stuck to him like a log to a root, but for the first week or so 'twant no use—not a bit.
The same two impulses are said to lie at the root of the elaborate art of personal adornment developed by savages.
This book occasioned some prelates to say that they must root out printing or printing would root out them.