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root and branch. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
root and branch, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From the Bible.[1] Used as a title for the Root and Branch petition presented to the Long Parliament on December 11, 1640.
Adjective
root and branch (not comparable)
- Total, thorough, sweeping, complete, radical, drastic.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:total
1921, Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria:When, in 1872, Sir Charles Dilke once more returned to the charge in the House of Commons, introducing a motion for a full enquiry into the Queen's expenditure with a view to a root and branch reform of the Civil List, […]
2022 October 27, Damian Carrington, quoting Inger Andersen, “Climate crisis: UN finds ‘no credible pathway to 1.5C in place’”, in The Guardian:We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time is over. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster.
2023 January 19, Aletha Adu, quoting Keir Starmer, “Keir Starmer suggests Met explore changing name in ‘root and branch’ review”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:Keir Starmer has indicated the Metropolitan police might need to change its name as part of a much-needed “root and branch” review in the wake of the David Carrick case.
2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 52:In his favour, Beeching declared that he supported carrying on with the existing modernisation projects, but that the rest of the business needed root and branch reform.
Translations
Adverb
root and branch (not comparable)
- Totally, completely.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:completely
1876, Anthony Trollope, chapter LV, in The Prime Minister. , volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Chapman & Hall, , →OCLC:"I can't help coming, sir," continued Mrs. Parker. "Where am I to go if I don't come? Mr. Lopez, sir, has ruined us root and branch,—root and branch."
1905 April, Jack London, “(please specify the page)”, in War of the Classes, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:And far be it from me to deny that socialism is a menace. It is its purpose to wipe out, root and branch, all capitalistic institutions of present-day society.
Derived terms
Translations
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References
- ^ The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , 1611, →OCLC, Malachi 4:1: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”