Uproots

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Pulls a plant or tree out of the soil by its roots ; removes or destroys something entirely from its place or existence
2. Takes a plant and its roots out of the earth ; eradicates or eliminates something completely
3. Extracts a plant including its roots from the ground ; thoroughly removes or demolishes something

Etymology: "Uproot" is a plain compound: the prefix "up-", indicating a higher direction or position, joined to "root", the underground part of a plant. Its literal sense is to pull a plant up out of the ground together with its roots, and that physical image is what the figurative senses of forcibly removing someone from a place or wiping something out completely grow from. The "root" half has a second, separate history. The verb "root" meaning to dig or turn up soil with the snout, as a pig does, came from Old English "wrōtan," and it survives in the sense of rummaging through something. The two verbs were once distinct, but English speakers' familiarity with the plant noun made the "dig up" sense feel like it belonged to the plant meaning, so "uproot" is usually read as the plant-based verb.

Synonyms: removes, extracts, upheaves, dislodges, eradicates

Antonyms: plants, establishes, roots, sets, sows