Dictionary

rootle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɹuːtəl/

Etymology

Etymology tree English root Proto-Germanic *-lōną Old English -lian Middle English -len English -le English rootle From root (“to dig”) + -le (frequentative suffix).

Meanings

1. (of an animal) to dig into the ground, with the snout.
   • Removing internal fences allowed the wild Exmoor ponies and Tamworth pigs he introduced to browse and rootle over large distances, their disruptions creating habitats for other animals and plants. 2019 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian:
   • Once, presumably, this quadrangle with its smooth lawns, its massive buildings, and the chapel itself was marsh too, where the grasses waved and the swine rootled. 1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, Penguin Books, paperback edition, page 11
2. (of a person) to search for something from a drawer, closet, etc.; to dig out.
   • 'There's a tin of cocoa in my study somewhere,' Perowne shouted after him. 'Rootle round till you find it, and take it up.' 1908, Rudyard Kipling, Regulus:
   • Bathed and changed, she rootled out Lambie from the bottom of her wardrobe.' 2016, Kerry Greenwood, Murder and Mendelssohn, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 288:

Forms

Translations (1)

cmn 拱 (to dig into the ground with the snout)