uproot
/ʌpˈruːt
/verb [with object]
1Pull (something, especially a tree or plant) out of the ground: the elephant’s trunk is powerful enough to uproot trees...
- Their trunk is employed to pull branches off trees, uproot grass, pluck fruit, and to place food in their mouths.
- It was accompanied by a rapid temperature drop, and a squally wind change strong enough to uproot trees and unroof about 50 houses.
- The storm's winds were strong enough to uproot trees and to knock people off their feet.
Synonyms
pull up, root out, take out, rip out/up, tear up by the roots, grub out/up
rare deracinate
1.1Remove or destroy completely; eradicate: a revolution is necessary to uproot the social order...
- Many Eastern and Southern Indian nations were uprooted and forced to remove themselves beyond the Mississippi River.
- According to officials who visited the settlements - everything has been destroyed, uprooted, ripped out, or looted.
- Millions have had their homes destroyed, their lives uprooted, and their futures decimated.
Synonyms
eradicate, get rid of, eliminate, root out, weed out, remove, destroy, put an end to, do away with, wipe out, stamp out, extirpate, abolish, extinguish
2Move (someone) from their home or a familiar location: my father travelled constantly and uprooted his family several times...
- The women were forced to constantly uproot their families and move to another part of the country in the hope that they would be able to live in peace.
- Even if you were offered a job, not many people can afford to uproot their family to move.
- To ensure success, Chapman then uprooted his family and moved to the USA for three years to build up the client base and develop the manufacturing facility.
Derivatives
uprooter
- The proper thing would be to place the tree uprooters on trial, and to require them, rather than the state, to pay compensation to the injured parties.
- Extraction of the tree stump is achieved with this known uprooter by manual rotation of the screw threaded spindle which requires great expenditure of force.
- Should Tower Hamlets Councillors be allowed to act as the social uprooters of the people that make up the borough's ordinary population today?