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• sap
  sap

  noun

  the juice or vital circulating fluid of a plant, especially of a woody plant.
• SAP
  SAP

  abbreviation

  South African Police

sap

¹ American  

[sap] / sæp /

noun

1. the juice or vital circulating fluid of a plant, especially of a woody plant.

2. any vital body fluid.

3. energy; vitality.

4. sapwood.

5. Slang. a fool; sucker; dupe.

6. Metallurgy. soft metal at the core of a bar of blister steel.

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verb (used with object)

sapped, sapping

1. to drain the sap from.

sap ² American  

[sap] / sæp /

noun

1. Fortification. a deep, narrow trench constructed so as to form an approach to a besieged place or an enemy's position.

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verb (used with object)

sapped, sapping

1. to undermine; gradually or insidiously weaken or destroy.

   Synonyms:

   undermine, weaken, tire, impair, exhaust, enfeeble, enervate, drain, deplete

2. Fortification.

   1. to approach (a besieged place or an enemy position) by means of deep, narrow trenches protected by gabions or parapets.

   2. to dig such trenches in (ground).

verb (used without object)

sapped, sapping

1. Fortification. to dig a sap.

sap ³ American  

[sap] / sæp /

noun

1. a short club with a heavy tip that is used as a weapon; blackjack; bludgeon.

   The burglar carried a set of lockpicks and a sap.

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verb (used with object)

1. to hit (someone) with a club.

   If he tries to sneak out, I'll sap him over the head.

sap ¹ British  

/ sæp /

noun

1. a solution of mineral salts, sugars, etc, that circulates in a plant

2. any vital body fluid

3. energy; vigour

4. slang a gullible or foolish person

5. another name for sapwood

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verb

1. to drain of sap

SAP ² British  

abbreviation

1. South African Police

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SAP ³ British  

/ sæp /

acronym

1. Standard Assessment Procedure, the recognized performance indicator for measuring energy efficiency in buildings

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sap ⁴ British  

/ sæp /

noun

1. a deep and narrow trench used to approach or undermine an enemy position, esp in siege warfare

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verb

1. to undermine (a fortification, etc) by digging saps

2. (tr) to weaken

sap Scientific  

/ săp /

1. The watery fluid that circulates through a plant that has vascular tissues. Sap moving up the xylem carries water and minerals, while sap moving down the phloem carries water and food.

2. See cell sap

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Other Word Forms

• sapless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of sap¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English sæp; cognate with Dutch sap; akin to German Saft juice, Old Norse safi; sap ¹ in def. 5 a shortening of saphead

Origin of sap²

First recorded in 1585–95; from French noun sape “spade, spadework,” derivative of saper “to dig a trench,” from Italian zappare “to undermine,” a military term, based on zappa “hoe”

Origin of sap³

First recorded in 1895–1900; perhaps shortening of sapling or sapwood (used as a tool or weapon)

Explanation

To sap something is to drain or deplete something over time. If you sap a maple tree, you drain the liquid inside it to make maple syrup. But if you sap a person of strength, you've rendered him defenseless. Whether used as a noun or verb, sap is rarely a good thing. If your energy or will is sapped, it’s not meant lightly; it means you have been exhausted of all your reserve energy, you’re reduced to a shell. If someone calls you "a sap," it suggests you lack strength and character. And if you get sap — the sticky liquid inside a tree — on your hands, good luck getting it off in the middle of a forest without a bar of soap and running water. Yuck.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sap SAP sapped sapping

It contains a sap which irritates skin when it is exposed to sunlight and can cause blistering and swelling.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

One such chemical is sulfoxaflor, a next generation pesticide introduced in 2013 to eliminate sap feeding insects such as aphids on crops including soybeans and corn.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

In a bearish development, Apple raised the prices of its Macs and iPads early Thursday morning, unsettling investors who are concerned it could sap demand for chips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Before, Ahmad could tap — meaning to cut incisions in the acacia trees, which exude sap that a few weeks later hardens into nodules of Hashab gum — four orchards in one go.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

Pa wanted to be there to help with the work of gathering and boiling the sap.

From "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Executives quickly pulled its entire SAP system, which tracks everything from financial to human-resource matters, offline to assess the damage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The group’s current cloud backlog—a closely watched measure of sales that SAP expects over the coming year based on existing contracts—grew 26% at constant currencies in the second quarter, above expectations of around 24%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

“Customers are choosing SAP to enable accurate and compliant AI outcomes grounded in their most critical business processes and data,” CEO Christian Klein said in a statement.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Brian Schwartz and Idan Gutkind at Oppenheimer said that while the company’s cloud backlog continues to show growth, guidance risk is also increasing, as SAP currently assumes de-escalation in Iran.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

SAP, s. liquid of any kind taken to solids.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV. by Alexander Leighton

The recent repeated heatwaves have sapped moisture from soils and vegetation via evaporation, which has in turn increased demand for water for farming, industry and household use.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

The king of Ithaca’s pride in his ingenious trick is steadily sapped by a series of cosmic punishments.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

Yet, in these cases, the great powers had to give up because of protracted, painful insurgencies that followed conventional military victories and eventually sapped domestic support for war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

There’s no direct link between cryptos and the war, but the geopolitical uncertainty has sapped demand for all sorts of risk assets.

From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026

I have fought Death, and illness and despair have sapped all my strength.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

It offloaded bare-bones models into rental fleets, sapping resale values.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The dollar has also weakened over the past year and a half, down nearly 10% against the euro since the start of 2025, sapping the purchasing power of travelers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

What it suggests is each rally is sapping more and more strength from the bulls.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 19, 2026

But this has been a recurring issue throughout a sapping campaign as goalkeeper Ramsdale needed no reminding.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026

Now all their pain and anger and bitterness poured over him, sapping his strength.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• blunt
• deplete
• destroy
• drain
• erode
• exhaust
• impair
• ruin
• undermine
• vitiate
• wreck