uproot
/ˌʌpˈɹut/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.
Transitive verb
verb
To remove (someone or something) from a familiar circumstance, especially suddenly and unwillingly.
Transitive verb
verb
Of oneself or someone: to move away from a familiar environment (for example, to live elsewhere).
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "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 the Lord's hand is stretched out, and will not be withdrawn until his nest be turned up, even as the plough uprooteth and scattereth the nest of the field-mouse and the blind mole; […]"
- "[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 an exertion of great personal strength, uprooted the chairs, and removed them further back."
- "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."
- "[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."
- "See now what doubt is. It is evil, and unwise, and uprooteth many from the faith; yea, though they be very strong."
- "More than 50 trees fell across a ten-mile section of the line during December's Storm Darragh. In total, more than 70 fell on the line, including around 30 which were uprooted."
Etymology
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌʌpˈɹut/
- British English: /ˌʌpˈɹuːt/