Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The main root of a plant, usually stouter than the lateral roots and growing straight downward from the stem.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In botany, the main root of a plant, which grows vigorously downward to a considerable depth, giving off lateral roots in acropetal succession. See cut under root.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) The root of a plant which penetrates the earth directly downward to a considerable depth without dividing.
WordNet 3.0
- n. something that provides an important central source for growth or development
- n. (botany) main root of a plant growing straight downward from the stem
Etymologies
- tap + root (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Tepary beans’ taproot is twice as long as common beans’ (Phaseolus vulgaris), which allows teparies to efficiently take advantage of even small amounts of soil moisture.”
“It had something called a taproot that grew underground and stored energy for the cactus to use if there was a drought.”
“When I asked what she was doing, she said something in her thick Polish accent, something about a graft, something about a taproot, something about how gardening was how she liked to spend her day off.”
“Start now to anchor that taproot in your own garden, and reap the benefits of your own hard work for years to come.”
The Huffington Post: Anne Hill: Keep Your Author Platform Rooted in the Independent Web
“It grows warmer again and here there is a giant taproot — like the taproot of a great tree.”
Soul-Spelunking – Another Wacky Exploration in Free-Writing « Looking for Roots
“This is the taproot from which the green life of the genre springs, and it can never really be respectable.”
MIND MELD: What You Should Know About Speculative Fiction and Mainstream Acceptance (Part 2)
“A fine spear thistle, comprising about 15 spikes radiating from a single taproot, has prospered among all the other tall vegetation, but has now begun to sag slightly into the track so that one can hardly avoid it.”
“There had been the presence of that empty chair at the table for family milestones, the proof that we were no longer going to be graced by the sweet face of our matriarch, beaming because family was her taproot, her greatest source of joy.”
Simon & Schuster: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grieving and Recovery
“Each stalk has a thick taproot that sends shoots in every direction.”
“Once planted, asclepias do not like to be disturbed, but are quite drought-tolerant because of its taproot.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘taproot’.
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AGRI - horse breeding
driving, implement, Trot, speed, exhale, dope, obstacle, tail, plow, coloration, para, weaving and 678 more...
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root tips and other ends
stolon, circinate, calyptrogen, meristem, verticil, fusiform, telomere, skirret, relbun, turpeth, galangal, vetiver and 54 more...
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Putting down roots
root beer, crinkleroot, root canal, root cellar, roothold, rootlet, rootworm, Stephen Root, square root, snakeroot, arrowroot, scrootch and 64 more...
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kmalladi's favorites
edification, penchant, ablution, extricate, frank, triumvirate, trifecta, egregious, hoi polloi, articulate, antediluvian, brusque and 291 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, T
torquate, thalassocracy, toothsome, travois, tempestuous, tone, tincture, tripwire, tether, trill, tenacious, travesty and 355 more...
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End in -ot
Just what it says. Words that end in -ot.
wainscot, ascot, marmot, jot, ocelot, spot, blot, scot, lot, shot, dot, snot and 219 more...
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gorgonglare's list
the best
zeppelin, ion, laconic, serendipity, cataract, saturnine, syzygy, cinnabar, bistro, lithium, paroxysm, scion and 694 more...
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Forest For The Trees
Words to describe forests, tree parts & tree culture.
petiole, deciduous, phytoremediation, riparian zone, scion, xeriscape, samara, freestone, clingstone, blowdown, butt log, sylvan and 49 more...
Tweets
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