| root | |
| 1. subst. The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction. | |
| This tree's roots can go as deep as twenty metres underground. | |
| 2. subst. A root vegetable. | |
| 3. subst. The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place. | |
| Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing. | |
| 4. subst. The part of a hair under the skin that holds the hair in place. | |
| The root is the only part of the hair that is alive. | |
| 5. subst. The part of a hair near the skin that has not been dyed, permed, or otherwise treated. | |
| He dyed his hair black last month, so the grey roots can be seen. | |
| 6. subst. The primary source; origin. | |
| The love of money is the root of all evil. | |
| 7. subst. (arithmetic) Of a number or expression, a number which, when raised to a specified power, yields the specified number or expression. | |
| The cube root of 27 is 3. | |
| 8. subst. (arithmetic) A square root (understood if no power is specified; in which case, “the root of” is often abbreviated to “root”). | |
| Multiply by root 2. | |
| 9. subst. (analysis) A zero (of an equation). | |
| 10. subst. (graph theory, computing) The single node of a tree that has no parent. | |
| 11. subst. (linguistic morphology) The primary lexical unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents. Inflectional stems often der | |
| 12. subst. (philology) A word from which another word or words are derived. | |
| 13. subst. (music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed. | |
| 14. subst. The lowest place, position, or part. | |
| 15. subst. (computing) In UNIX terminology, the first user account with complete access to the operating system and its configuration, found at the root of the directory structure; the person who manages account | |
| I have to log in as root before I do that. | |
| 16. subst. (computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories. | |
| I installed the files in the root directory. | |
| 17. subst. (slang) A penis, especially the base of a penis. | |
| 18. v. To fix the root; to enter the earth, as roots; to take root and begin to grow. | |
| 19. v. To be firmly fixed; to be established. | |
| 20. v. (computing, slang) To break into a computer system and obtain root access. | |
| We rooted his box and planted a virus on it. | |
| 21. v. To turn up or dig with the snout. | |
| A pig roots the earth for truffles. | |
| 22. v. (by extension) To seek favour or advancement by low arts or grovelling servility; to fawn. | |
| 23. v. (intransitive) To rummage; to search as if by digging in soil. | |
| rooting about in a junk-filled drawer | |
| 24. v. To root out; to abolish. | |
| 25. v. (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, vulgar, slang) To have sexual intercourse. | |
| 26. v. (horticulture, intransitive) To grow roots | |
| The cuttings are starting to root. | |
| 27. v. (horticulture, transitive) To prepare, oversee, or otherwise cause the rooting of cuttings | |
| We rooted some cuttings last summer. | |
| 28. subst. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse. | |
| Fancy a root? | |
| 29. subst. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) A sexual partner. | |
| 30. v. (intransitive, with "for" or "on", US) To cheer (on); to show support (for) and hope for the success of. (See root for.) | |
| I'm rooting for you, don't let me down! | |
