1
general::
root sth/sb out
[ M ] SEARCH FOR
1. informal to search and find something or someone that is difficult to find
• I've rooted out an old pair of shoes that might fit you., root for sb
informal
to show support for someone who is in a competition or who is doing something difficult
• Most of the crowd were rooting for the home team.
• Good luck! We're all rooting for you., root sth out/up
[ M ]
to remove a whole plant, including the roots, from the ground
• I suggest you root out those weeds before they take hold., root sth/sb out
[ M ] GET RID OF
2. to find and remove a person or thing that is causing a problem
• Ms Campbell has been appointed to root out inefficiency in this company.
Cambridge-Phrasal Verbs
4
general::
noun of a plant ADJ. deep, shallow | gnarled ROOT + VERB develop, grow | put down, take I hope those cuttings will take root. ROOT + NOUN system | crops, vegetables PREP. by its/the ~s She pulled the shrub out by its roots. roots: place where you feel you belong ADJ. humble Despite his wealth, he never forgot his humble roots. | cultural severed from our cultural roots by industrialization | middle-class, peasant, working-class | French, Scottish, etc. VERB + ROOT get/go back to, return to My husband wants to go back to his Irish roots. | trace They can trace their roots back to the sixteenth century. | put down We haven't been here long enough to put down roots. | cut yourself off from cause/source ADJ. deep | very | common The two languages share a common root. | historical VERB + ROOT have | get at/to, go to I've spent months trying to get to the root of the problem. | lie at ROOT + NOUN cause PREP. at (the ~ of) It is a moral question at root. His fears of loneliness lay at the very root of his inability to leave. | ~ in The unrest has roots in religious differences. PHRASES the root of all evil They consider globalization to be the root of all evil. | the root of the matter/problem I expect money is at the root of the matter.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary