English

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Pronunciation

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A skidder being used to uproot (etymology 1, sense 1.1) a tree stump.

Etymology 1

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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).[1] Root is derived from root (underground part of a plant, noun), from Middle English rote,[2] from Old English rōt, rōte, from Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (root).

Verb

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

  1. (transitive)
    1. To tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.
      Synonyms: deracinate, disroot, grub up, outroot, rout, unroot
    2. (figuratively) To destroy (something) utterly; to eradicate, exterminate.
      Synonyms: annihilate, obliterate; see also Thesaurus:destroy
    3. (figuratively) To remove (someone or something) from a familiar circumstance, especially suddenly and unwillingly.
  2. (intransitive, reflexive) Of oneself or someone: to move away from a familiar environment (for example, to live elsewhere).
Derived terms
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Translations
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Noun

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uproot (plural uproots)

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

Etymology 2

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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).[3] Root is derived from Middle English wroten (to dig or turn up with the snout; to remove soil, dig up),[4] 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.

Verb

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

  1. (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.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ uproot, v.1”, in OED Online  , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021; uproot, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ rọ̄te, n.(4)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ uproot, v.2”, in OED Online  , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
  4. ^ wrọ̄ten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Anagrams

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