root out
verb
rooted out; rooting out; roots out
1
: to find and remove (something or someone)
The mayor was determined to root out corruption in city government.
2
: to find (something or someone) after searching for a long time
He finally rooted out the cause of the problem.
Examples of root out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For all of that time, Jimmy Patronis, now a Panhandle congressman, was Florida’s chief financial officer, the man responsible for paying the state’s bills and rooting out waste and fraud.
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Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026
But Warsh wants to go a step further, by rooting out extreme price shocks when calculating overall inflation.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 23 Apr. 2026
And so, unpleasant people have been rooted out of the group over the years.
—Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 18 Apr. 2026
When planted in the ground, a plant sends roots out far and wide to provide structural support, but that doesn’t happen in a pot.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for root out
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Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026
But Warsh wants to go a step further, by rooting out extreme price shocks when calculating overall inflation.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 23 Apr. 2026
And so, unpleasant people have been rooted out of the group over the years.
—Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 18 Apr. 2026
When planted in the ground, a plant sends roots out far and wide to provide structural support, but that doesn’t happen in a pot.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for root out
Cite this Entry
“Root out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/root%20out. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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