1. n. 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. n. A root vegetable.
3. n. The part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place.
Root damage is a common problem of overbrushing.
4. n. 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. n. 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. n. The primary source; origin.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
7. n. (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. n. (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. n. (analysis) A zero (of an equation).
10. n. (graph theory, computing) The single node of a tree that has no parent.
11. n. (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. n. (philology) A word from which another word or words are derived.
13. n. (music) The fundamental tone of any chord; the tone from whose harmonics, or overtones, a chord is composed.
14. n. The lowest place, position, or part.
15. n. (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. n. (computing) The highest directory of a directory structure which may contain both files and subdirectories.
I installed the files in the root directory.
17. n. (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. n. (Australia, New Zealand, vulgar, slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
Fancy a root?
29. n. (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.)
1. adj. Favoring fundamental change, or change at the root cause of a matter.
His beliefs are radical.
2. adj. (botany, not comparable) Pertaining to a root (of a plant).
3. adj. Pertaining to the basic or intrinsic nature of something.
4. adj. Thoroughgoing; far-reaching.
The spread of the cancer required radical surgery, and the entire organ was removed.
5. adj. (lexicography, not comparable) Of or pertaining to the root of a word.
6. adj. (phonology, phonetics, not comparable, of a sound) Produced using the root of the tongue.
7. adj. (chemistry, not comparable) Involving free radicals.
8. adj. (math) Relating to a radix or mathematical root.
a radical quantity; a radical sign
9. adj. (slang) Excellent; awesome.
That was a radical jump!
10. n. (historical: 19th-century Britain) A member of the most progressive wing of the Liberal Party; someone favouring social reform (but generally stopping short of socialism).
11. n. (historical: early 20th-century France) A member of an influential, centrist political party favouring moderate social reform, a republican constitution, and secular politics.
12. n. A person with radical opinions.
13. n. (arithmetic) A root (of a number or quantity).
14. n. (linguistics) In logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character (if any) that provides an indication of its meaning, as opposed to phonetic.
15. n. (linguistics) In Semitic languages, any one of the set of consonants (typically three) that make up a root.
16. n. (chemistry) A group of atoms, joined by covalent bonds, that take part in reactions as a single unit.
17. n. (organic chemistry) A free radical.
18. n. (algebra, commutative algebra, ring theory, of an ideal) Given an ideal I in a commutative ring R, another ideal, denoted Rad(I) or\sqrtI, such that an element x ∈ R is in Rad(I) if, for some positive
19. n. (algebra, ring theory, of a ring) Given a ring R, an ideal containing elements of R that share a property considered, in some sense, "not good".
20. n. (algebra, ring theory, of a module) The intersection of maximal submodules of a given module.
21. n. (number theory) The product of the distinct prime factors of a given positive integer.
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