take root

idiomatic 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

Brown’s support underscores how frustration with the school’s trajectory has spread beyond its usual critics and taken root among alumni who once gave the overhaul the benefit of the doubt. —Alice Herman, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025

This is a delusion that has taken root in their mind and established an initial foothold. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025

Otherwise, new innovations will struggle to take root and thrive. —Gary Roughead, Foreign Affairs, 2 Sep. 2025

The Civil Rights movement had only just begun to take root. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2025

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