root-and-branch

British

adjective

on a large scale or without discrimination; wholesale

root-and-branch reforms

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adverb

entirely; completely; utterly

Brazil needs reform root and branch

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

root and branch Idioms

Utterly, completely, as in The company has been transformed root and branch by the new management. Alluding to both the underground and aboveground parts of a tree, this idiom was first recorded in 1640.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The US Department of Justice had indicted a large number of top executives and it needed root-and-branch reform.

From BBC

"We must grasp this opportunity for root-and-branch reform."

From BBC

"Anything short of root-and-branch reform risks trapping councils in a vicious cycle of overspending and worsening services for families," he says.

From BBC

The last one, less than three years ago, produced a surprise win for the progressive Move Forward party, which had campaigned on promises of root-and-branch political and economic reforms.

From BBC

The CCRC's senior leadership, starting with the CEO, must also resign to pave the way for root-and-branch reform.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023