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

Their job is to root out conflicts of interest and corruption throughout the county, from the Board of Supervisors to the employees within the county’s 39 departments. — Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 6 Nov. 2026

Rodriguez campaigned on fighting crime, lowering costs and rooting out corruption in state government. — Sergio Candido, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026

Both oppose the Iran war and both want to root out corruption. — Thomas Wright, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2026

Three years after the Ganj-i-Sawai heist, Richard Coote, New York's colonial governor, described how one of his efforts to root out piracy had led him to Jones. — ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026

Rhymes for root out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout