root

1736 |

root On /ru:t/ noun, verb

mnoun

► OF PLANT ftW 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 If; full: deep spreading roots HlflfWItfjlf o I pulled the plant up by (= including) the roots, ffcfejAlf Ifil^Elf 0 Tree roots can

cause damage to buildings. If h ^ ill HS IS'# o 0

root crops/vegetables {= plants whose roots you can eat, such as carrots) If /1131 — picture o plant, tree — see also grass roots, taproot

► OF HAIR/TOOTH/NAIL ; 5f ®; ]§# 2 [C] the part of a hair, tooth, nail or tongue that attaches it to the rest of the body If; |f#P: hair that is blonde at the ends and dark at the roots

► MAIN CAUSE OF PROBLEM [C, usually sing.]

the main cause of sth, such as a problem or difficult situation If!}®; 0: Money, or love of money, is said

to be the root of all evil. ^ 0

We have to get to the root of the problem.

0I§&lJlf i®₀ o What lies at the root of his troubles is a sense of insecurity, {ft $) —Kl tt ft7 —# 7 £ ii ₀ 0 What would you say was the root cause of the problem?

► ORIGIN 4 [C, usually pi.] the origin or basis of sth ® }®; 3£5[]}; Kilt: Flamenco has its roots in Arabic music.

► CONNECTION WITH PLACE 5 roots [pi.] the

feelings or connections that you have with a place because you have lived there or your family came from there If ( ) : I’m

proud of my Italian roots. A fc M A fIJ Ifil !§ 3\

HL o After 20 years in America, I still feel my roots are

in England. b£?st2o^, mzfkmmm

► OF WORD i£is] 6 [C] (linguistics if- g) 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 il] It: ‘Walk’ is the root of ‘walks’, ‘walked’, ‘walking’ and “walker’. * walk H walks, walked, walking ffl walker mUo

► MATHEMATICS 7 [C] a quantity which, when multiplied by itself a particular number of times, produces another quantity A It ; It — see also cube root,

SQUARE ROOT

niryn put down ¹ roots 1 (of a plant If ty)) to develop roots 4 It 2 to settle and live in one place _: After ten years travelling the world, she felt it was time to put down roots somewhere. M'll#

#g7:I&Aae-.root and ‘branch thoroughly and completely % ^ : The government set out to

destroy the organization root and branch, a&Jfrlf

0 root-and-branch reforms ft ffi $J $ take 'root 1 (of a plant If ty]) to develop

roots 4 It 2 (of an idea J®. M) to become accepted widely If It; iAAi': Fortunately, militarism failed to take root in Europe as a whole,

• verb

► OF PLANTS |f 1 [V, VN] to grow roots; to make or

encourage a plant to grow roots ( ) 7 If

► SEARCH Ate 2 [V +adv./prep.] ~ (about/around) for sth | ~ (through sth) (for sth) to search for sth by moving things or turning things over M f- HT71 rummage : pigs rooting for food ± 1 1ft If 0 ‘It must be here somewhere, ’ she said, rooting through the suitcase. “ *£

0 Who’s been rooting around in my desk? i£§US!?icfft 45 JiT?

► SEX 14 3 [V, VN] {AustralE, NZE, taboo, slang) to have sex

with sb ( A ) 1435

ia:l;k*i 'root for sb [no passive] (usually used in the progressive tenses IftliN') (informal) to support

or encourage sb in a sports competition or when they are in a difficult situation ( )

in ■ ■ ■ JIJj , in ■ ■ • IJP : We’re rooting for the Bulls. ill

fE A 77 PAtP IS o 0 Good luck—I’m rooting for you!

AW4fc! , root sth/sb—' out 1 to find the

person or thing that is causing a problem and remove or get rid of them mm AI& ( #llf ) ; If & 2 to find sb/sth after searching for a long time ££ 7 A 31 ( °5c#c fij ) .root sb to 'sth to make sb unable to move because of fear, shock, etc. {£ ( 0ilj^:t6,

7 zft: Embarrassment rooted her to the spot. MteMlI# M14To .root sth—'up to dig or pull up a plant with its roots ji£|f|g^; &lf^®

'root beer noun 1 [U] a sweet fizzy drink (= with bubbles), that does not contain alcohol, made from ginger and the roots of other plants. It is drunk especially in the US. If fm* (

7 It Mil, HfrTHS) 2 [C] a bottle, can or glass of root beer —M ( ^njf, ) If

'root-bound adj. = pot-bound 'root canal noun the space inside the root of a tooth

(34)irt

'root directory noun (computing if) a file that contains all the other files in a program, system, etc. If g ^ root ed /'ruitid/ adj. 1 ~ in sth developing from or being strongly influenced by sth IfA 7; & • • • 5* £: His problems are deeply rooted in his childhood experiences. 14$J|n]I£#j|$lf 2 fixed in one

place; not moving or changing [§; HO(ft; If IS-rf @ fill: She was rooted to her chair.

0 Their life is rooted in Chicago now. fM! hW if ^ ^ 7 o o Racism is still deeply rooted in our society. —see

also deep-rooted 3 (AustralE, slang) extremely tired fg {AustralE, slang) too old or broken to use ^ IB W H321 rooted

to the 'spot so frightened or shocked that you cannot move ( 1WI# ) #14^

root-er /'ru:ta(r)/ noun (NAmE, informal) a person who supports a particular team or player (

EEd SUPPORTER

rootin^,-tootin^> /.ruitin 'tuitin/ adj. [only before noun] {NAmE, informal) enthusiastic, cheerful and lively $|j]$ &1tlX);

root-less /‘ruitlas/ adj. having nowhere that you really think of as home, or as the place where you belong Alf Gil; WiS H ^SlJ: she had had a rootless childhood moving from town to town. £tM^N Hi Afe 0f, ► root-less-ness noun [U]

rootsy /'ruitsi/ adj. {informal) (of music If Ef.) belonging to a particular tradition, and not changed from the original style

rope /raup; NAmE roup/ noun, verb mnoun 1 [C, U] very strong thick string made by twisting thinner strings, wires, etc. together fill; i%M\

The rope broke and she fell 50 metres onto the rocks. M MmT, M/A50 oWetiedhis

hands together with rope.

0 The anchor was attached to a length of rope.

—^.Mi^-to 0 Coils of rope lay on the quayside.

# — 4 & W % 7 c — see also jump rope, skipping rope, tow rope 2 the ropes [pi ] the fence made of rope that is around the edge of the area where a boxing or wrestling match takes place (

^ 29 jS] (Hi ) ffl M, [H 3 [C] a number of similar things attached together by a string or thread

a rope of pearls — $1^3^ ITSTTC1 give sb enough 'rope to allow sb freedom to do what they want, especially in the hope that they will make a mistake or look silly )_:

The question was vague, giving the interviewee enough rope to hang herself. &70Mlt1iW ^ WIf § HⁿEo on the 'ropes {informal) very close to being defeated show sb/know/

learn the 'ropes{informal) to show sb/know/learn how a particular job should be done / 4flil /

ilRfi— more at end n., money uverb [VN] 1 [+adv./prep.] ~ A and B together | ~ A to B to tie one person or thing to another with a rope ( 1%, % ) : The thieves had roped the guard’s feet

together. &WIEHiMSiPK 0 I roped the

goat to a post. IS IE ill — If I47±₀ 2 to tie sth