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

The department’s defenders maintain that progress has been made toward rooting out bigotry. — Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

Plaintiffs' critical role to root out governmental fraud, finance waste, and abuse is obstructed by Defendant's interference with OIG's investigatory performance. — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 24 Sep. 2026

Carefully loosen and lift the plant and roots out of the hole without cutting the roots. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2026

Drawing on tactics perfected during the Soviet era, the security forces have led a campaign to root out any threats to regime power. — Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026

Rhymes for root out

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