root

{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}

noun

1 of a plant

ADJECTIVE

▪ deep, shallow

▪ gnarled

▪ plant, tree

VERB + ROOT

▪ develop, grow

▪ put down, take

▪

I hope those cuttings will take root.

▪ plant

ROOT + VERB

▪ grow

ROOT + NOUN

▪ system

▪ ball

▪ crops, vegetables

▪ growth

PREPOSITION

▪ by its/the roots

▪

She pulled the shrub out by its roots.

2 roots place where you feel you belong

ADJECTIVE

▪ humble

▪

Despite his wealth, he never forgot his humble roots.

▪ strong

▪ cultural

▪

severed from our cultural roots by industrialization

▪ working-class

▪ African, French, Scottish, etc.

VERB + ROOTS

▪ get back to, go back to, return to

▪

My husband wants to go back to his Irish roots.

▪ trace

▪

They can trace their roots back to the 16th century.

▪ put down

▪

We haven't been here long enough to put down roots.

▪ be cut off from, forget

3 cause/source

ADJECTIVE

▪ deep, strong

▪ very

▪ common, same

▪

The two languages share a common root.

▪ historical

VERB + ROOT

▪ have

▪ explore, find, get at, get to, go to

▪

I've spent months trying to get to the root of the problem.

▪ lie at

ROOT + VERB

▪ be planted in sth

▪

Jazz's roots are firmly planted in African tradition.

▪ go back

▪

The company's roots go back to the 18th century.

ROOT + NOUN

▪ cause

PREPOSITION

▪ at (the root of)

▪

It is a moral question at root.

▪

His fears of loneliness lay at the very root of his inability to leave.

▪ root 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, the root of the problem

▪

I expect money is at the root of the matter.

{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}

verb

Root is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑cutting