take root

phrase

1

of a plant : to grow and develop roots : to become rooted

… damage to the ecosystem makes it easier for nonnative plants … to take root and crowd out native vegetation.

—Mary K. Miller

2

: to become fixed or established

… providing the steadiness and resolve needed to ensure that civilizations can take root and flourish.

—Greg Grandin

A monstrous suspicion had begun to take root in his mind.

—P. G. Wodehouse

Examples of take root in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Analysts and opposition politicians in exile said the declaration put into focus the reality of two-person rule under the Ortegas, while revealing the couple’s fear of an opposition movement taking root. — CNN Money, 21 July 2026

That trademark indecision of summer takes root in her words and spreads through the music until her vocals diverge in the chorus, peeling like a clementine’s skin as one shrill line scales upward and the other remains monotone. — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 21 July 2026

Relatively little new has been advanced or has taken root in the broader higher education ecosystem, however. — David Rosowsky, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026

Scattered across the city, the country, perhaps in hopes that some of them might take root. — Literary Hub, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for take root

• absolute
• arrowroot
• attribute
• bitterroot
• constitute
• convolute
• destitute
• disrepute
• dissolute
• execute
• institute
• involute