root

Universal Words noun, verb noun of plant 1 [C] the part of a plant that grows under the ground and absorbs water and minerals that it sends to the rest of the plant: deep spreading roots * I pulled the plant up by (= including) the roots. * Tree roots can cause damage to buildings. * root crops / vegetables (= plants whose roots you can eat, such as carrots) seealsoGRASSROOTS, TAPROOT of hair / tooth / nail 2 [C] the part of a hair, tooth, nail or tongue that attaches it to the rest of the body: hair that is blonde at the ends and dark at the roots main cause of problem 3 [C,usually sing.] the main cause of sth, such as a problem or difficult situation: Money, or love of money, is said to be the root of all evil. * We have to get to the root of the problem. * What lies at the root of his troubles is a sense of insecurity. * What would you say was the root cause of the problem? origin 4 [C,usually pl.] the origin or basis of sth: Flamenco has its roots in Arabic music. connection with place 5 (roots) [pl.] the feelings or connections that you have with a place because you have lived there or your family came from there: I'm proud of my Italian roots. * After 20 years in America, I still feel my roots are in England. of word 6 [C] (linguistics) the part of a word that has the main meaning and that its other forms are based on; a word that other words are formed from: 'Walk' is the root of 'walks', 'walked', 'walking' and 'walker'. mathematics 7 [C] a quantity which, when multiplied by itself a particular number of times, produces another quantity seealsoCUBEROOT, SQUAREROOT IDIOMS put down roots 1 (of a plant) to develop roots 2 to settle and live in one place: After ten years travelling the world, she felt it was time to put down roots somewhere. root and branch thoroughly and completely: The government set out to destroy the organization root and branch. * root-and-branch reforms take root 1 (of a plant) to develop roots 2 (of an idea) to become accepted widely: Fortunately, militarism failed to take root in Europe as a whole. verb of plants 1 [V, VN] to grow roots; to make or encourage a plant to grow roots search 2 [V+adv./prep.] ~ (about / around) for sth