α. 1700s– rootle, 1800s reutle (English regional (northern)), 1800s– routle (chiefly regional).
β. English regional (Devon) 1800s rookle.
rootlev.
/ˈruːtl/, U.S. /ˈrud(ə)l/, /ˈrʊd(ə)l/ 1. transitive. Of an animal, esp. a pig: to root or grub (something) up or out. Also in extended use: to bring to light; to extract by searching around or rummaging.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habits or actions > habits and actions > [verb (transitive)] > grub or root about in the earth
wrootc1000
root?1544
rout1569
nuzzle1637
uproot1726
rootle1795
snout1857
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > extraction > extract [verb (transitive)] > root out or up
louka1000
morec1325
roota1387
unroot?a1425
stubc1450
roota1500
rid?1529
root-walt?1530
subplant1547
supplant1549
root?1550
grub1558
eradicate1564
to stump up1599
deracinate1609
uproot1695
aberuncate1731
eracinate1739
rootle1795
disroot1800
piggle1847
1795 S. J. Pratt Gleanings through Wales I. 177 The hogs of half the parish are allowed to rootle up the earth and bones.
1858 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 397/1 To rootle up the most obscure and useless pieces of information.
1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers II. ix. 157 A misdoubt me if there were a felly there as would ha' thought o' routling out yon wasps' nest.
1886 Fishing, Fish Culture & Aquarium 18 Sept. 415/2 Rootling up the sand and gravel for his livelihood.
1945 ‘D. Rees’ Cambr. Murders xiii. 135 He set one or two members of his staff to rootle out the past histories of all the people whose names had been mentioned.
1955 M. E. B. Banks Commando Climber x. 189 A late autumn thaw..covered their [sc. the reindeers'] winter pasture with a crust of ice that prevented them rootling out their fodder.
1978 New Scientist 20 July 171/2 Pigs which rootle out the eggs and eat the vulnerable young.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Dec. 10/2 His gravestone was lost until rootled up by pigs in 1969.
2. intransitive. Of an animal, esp. a pig: to root or grub in the earth. Also in extended use: (of a person) to poke about; to search around or rummage. Frequently with about, round.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habits or actions > habits and actions > [verb (intransitive)] > grub or root about in the earth
nuzzle1530
grub1647
rootle1803
grubble1867
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)] > poke about or grub
prog1579
rout1711
grub1800
ratch1801
root1831
fossick1853
rootle1854
scrounge1909
roust1919
1803 S. J. Pratt Gleanings in Eng. (ed. 2) III. iii. 34 They turn up the ground, to be sure, and rootle, like so many little hogs; and for that matter, do a power of mischief.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words I. 181 How them children are rootling about!
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago II. 70 Rookling in their drains, like an old sow.
1899 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 795 A pug, rootling about among the ivy, startled out a great fat rabbit.
1917 R. Kipling Diversity of Creatures 261 There's a tin of cocoa in my study somewhere... Rootle round till you find it.
1936 A. Christie Cards on Table ix. 85 I'll leave you my keys and..you can rootle to your heart's content.
1977 Zigzag Apr. 43/3 He rootled about under the stairs and found an unopened Christmas present bottle of Glenfiddich.
2000 S. Vickers Miss Garnet's Angel 6 The urban fox..had been seen rootling in the communal dustbins.
Derivatives
ˈrootler n. rare
ΚΠ
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! viii Such were then the pigs of Devon: not to be compared with the..game-flavoured little rooklers.
1979 J. Kingdon East African Mammals IIIB. 201 The bushpig is the most typical representative of its family in that it is a true rootler.
2004 Evening Standard (Nexis) 4 Oct. 71 Sherry has proved himself one of the great rootlers, and so offers for our inspection such truffles as ‘Graham Greene's List of Favourite Prostitutes’, as an appendix.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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