uproot

Syllables: up·root/ˌʌpˈɹuːt/US/ˌʌpˈɹut/

uproot verb: to tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.

Image: Moinats, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb (1)

uproot (third-person singular simple present uproots, present participle uprooting, simple past and past participle uprooted)

(transitive) To tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.
- Mark me! the Lord's hand is stretched out, and will not be withdrawn until his nest be turned up, even as the plough uprooteth and scattereth the nest of the field-mouse and the blind mole; […]1832, Mrs. S[amuel] C[arter] Hall [i.e., Anna Maria Hall], chapter XIV, in The Buccaneer. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […] (late Colburn and Bentley), →OCLC, pages 272–273
- [S]he and Mr. Joseph Tuggs, and Miss Charlotta Tuggs, and Mr. Cymon Tuggs, with their eight feet in a corresponding number of yellow shoes, seated themselves on four rush-bottomed chairs, which, being placed in a soft part of the sand, forthwith sunk down some two feet and a half. […] Mr. Cymon, by...1839, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Tuggs’s at Ramsgate”, in Sketches by “Boz” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], new edition, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC...
Synonyms:

deracinate, disroot, grub up, outroot, rout, unroot
(figuratively, transitive) To destroy (something) utterly; to eradicate, exterminate.
- [B]ravely bearing on, thy will / Is destined an eternal war to wage / With tyranny and falshood, and uproot / The germs of misery from the human heart.1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Canto IX”, in Queen Mab; […], London: […] P. B. Shelley, […], →OCLC, page 120
- For, having his mind set upon righteousness, and casting away maliciousness, he straightway overthroweth the evil, and uprooteth the sin.1871, “[The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.] The Testament of Asher Concerning Two Faces of Vice and Virtue.”, in Robert Sinker, transl., edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, The...
Synonyms:

annihilate, obliterate, destroy, aerosolize, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto, dash
(figuratively, transitive) To remove (someone or something) from a familiar circumstance, especially suddenly and unwillingly.
- [H]ave ye a Sultan who ruleth over you and is tyrannical in his rule and under whose hand you are; one who, if any of you commit an offence, taketh his goods and ruineth him and who, whenas he will, turneth you out of house and home and uprooteth you, stock and branch?1885, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “The Pilgrim Man and the Old Woman”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the...
- The Anglification of Scotland has been proceeding apace to the damage of its education, its music, its literature, its genius, and the generation that is growing up under this influence is uprooted from its past, and, being deprived of the inspiration of its nationality, is also deprived of its...1921, J[ames] Ramsay MacDonald, “Political Construction”, in Socialism: Critical and Constructive, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, →OCLC, page 249
(intransitive, reflexive) Of oneself or someone: to move away from a familiar environment (for example, to live elsewhere).

Noun

uproot (plural uproots)

The act of uprooting something.
- With the uproot of the Chinese commercial system in the 1890s such a crisis was bound to surface.2014, Alexander Claver, Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java, page 174

Verb (2)

uproot (third-person singular simple present uproots, present participle uprooting, simple past and past participle uprooted)

(transitive) Of a pig or other animal: to dig up (something in the ground) using the snout; to rummage for (something) in the ground; to grub up, to root, to rout.

uproot meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

uproot in Hindi

to tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots: उखाड़ना ukhāṛnā

uproot in Tamil

கல்லி ஏறி, வேரொடு பிடுங்கி எறி, பெயர்த்தெடு

uproot in Bengali

to uproot, pull out, take out, scoop out: উখড়ানো ukhṛanō
to uproot, extirpate, eradicate, pull up; exterminate: উপড়ানো upṛanō

More languagesFewer languages

uproot in Malayalam: വേരോടെ പിഴുതെടുക്കുക, വാസസ്ഥലം വിട്ടുപോവുക, നാട്ടിൽ നിന്നോടിക്കുക
uproot in Kannada: ಕೀಳು, ಗೂರು, ಗೂಱು, ಬೇರುಗಿಡಿಸು
uproot in Gujarati: ઉખેડવું ukheḍvũ
uproot in Odia: ଉପାଡ଼ିବା upāṛibā, ତାଡ଼ିବା tāṛibā
uproot in Assamese: উঘাল ughal, উভাল ubhal

Examples of uproot in a sentence

Cymon, by an exertion of great personal strength, uprooted the chairs, and removed them further back.1839, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “The Tuggs’s at Ramsgate”, in Sketches by “Boz” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day...
Thou shakest the earth with the thunder of thy terror, and uprootest the huge oaks on the highest hills with the echo of thy voice.1839, Thomas Miller, chapter VI, in Fair Rosamond; or, The Days of King Henry II. An Historical Romance; […], volume II, London: Henry...
[T]hee only have I loved—for thee only have I bloomed; and when thou uprootest me from thy garden, I must wither and die.1841 December, “The Unicorn. From the German of the Author of ‘Der Frieschutz.’”, in F. Johnston, transl., The New Monthly Belle Assemblée...
It is evil, and unwise, and uprooteth many from the faith; yea, though they be very strong.1870, “The Ninth Commandment. On Prayer.”, in Charles H[olland] Hoole, transl., The Shepherd of Hermas […], London; Oxford, Oxfordshire...

All 20 example sentences with uproot

Synonyms of uproot

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of uproot

Forms of uproot

Verb
third-person singular present	uproots
present participle	uprooting
past participle	uprooted
past	uprooted
Noun
plural	uproots

Past tense of uproot: uprooted

Origin of uproot

PIE word *wréh₂ds From up- (prefix indicating a higher direction or position) + root (“to tear up by the roots; (figuratively) to remove forcibly from a place; to eradicate, exterminate”, verb). Root is derived from root (“underground part of a plant”, noun), from Middle English rote, from Old English rōt, rōte, from Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”).

From up- (prefix indicating a higher direction or position) + root (“of a pig or other animal: to dig or turn up with the snout; to search as if by digging in soil, rummage”, verb). Root is derived from Middle English wroten (“to dig or turn up with the snout; to remove soil, dig up”), from Old English wrōtan (“to dig or turn up with the snout”), from Proto-Germanic *wrōtaną (“to dig or turn up with the snout”); further etymology uncertain.

Words formed from uproot

Words that rhyme with uproot

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about uproot

What does uproot mean?: Uproot means to tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.
What is uproot in Hindi?: Uproot in Hindi is उखाड़ना (ukhāṛnā). See Uproot meaning in Hindi.
How do you use uproot in a sentence?: Cymon, by an exertion of great personal strength, uprooted the chairs, and removed them further back.
What part of speech is uproot?: Uproot can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce uproot?: Uproot is pronounced /ˌʌpˈɹuːt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of uproot?: The past tense of uproot is uprooted.

Words near uproot in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-uproot.wav.

Cite this entry: “uproot.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/uproot. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.