sap

[sap]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sap ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

any vital body fluid.

energy; vitality.

sapwood.

Slang. a fool; dupe.

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

verb (used with object), sapped, sap·ping.

to drain the sap from.

Origin of sap

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

sap

[sap]

noun

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

verb (used with object), sapped, sap·ping.

Fortification.

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

to undermine; weaken or destroy insidiously.

verb (used without object), sapped, sap·ping.

Fortification. to dig a sap.

Origin of sap

1585–95; < French sape (noun), derivative of saper to dig a trench < Italian zappare, a military term, based on zappa hoe (compare dialectal Italian zappo he-goat < ?)

Synonyms for sap

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sap ON THESAURUS.COM

3. impair, enfeeble, deplete, exhaust, enervate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for saps

exhaust, drain, erode, wreck, ruin, cripple, impair, deplete, vitiate, destroy, blunt, undermine, fool, jerk, idiot, sucker, patsy, dupe, chump, nitwit

Examples from the Web for saps

Contemporary Examples of saps

It is like a habit-forming drug that, in victory, saps your elation and, in defeat, deepens your despair.
The Night Vince Lombardi Lay Awake Brooding Over a 49-0 Win
W.C. Heinz
January 25, 2014
To live with anxiety is to live with a leech that saps you of your energy, confidence, and chutzpah.
How to Cure Your Anxiety? Read Henry James’s ‘The Portrait of a Lady,’ Of Course.
Ella Berthoud, Susan Elderkind
September 26, 2013
The Sex Addiction EpidemicChris Lee, Newsweek It wrecks marriages, destroys careers, and saps self-worth.
The Week's Best Longreads
David Sessions
December 3, 2011
Besides, complaining about McConnell only saps valuable time away from objecting vehemently to Joe Lieberman.
Things to Stop Bitching About in 2010
Tina Brown
January 3, 2010

Historical Examples of saps

Strafford, The wind that saps these walls can undermine Your camp in Scotland, too.
Browning's England
Helen Archibald Clarke
"You got these saps across the barrel," the general told him happily.
Project Mastodon
Clifford Donald Simak
So what do we get—we get knifes in the faces, saps on the head—a concussion, you tell me!
Police Your Planet
Lester del Rey
Many planters, however, leave the saps on the vines, saving the best only.
The Peanut Plant
B. W. Jones
It saps all my strength and all my pleasure in life: and to no purpose.
Katharine Frensham
Beatrice Harraden

British Dictionary definitions for saps

SAPS

abbreviation for

South African Police Service

sap

noun

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

any vital body fluid

energy; vigour

slang a gullible or foolish person

another name for sapwood

verb saps, sapping or sapped (tr)

to drain of sap

Derived Formssapless, adjective

Word Origin for sap

Old English sæp; related to Old High German sapf, German Saft juice, Middle Low German sapp, Sanskrit sabar milk juice

sap

noun

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

verb saps, sapping or sapped

to undermine (a fortification, etc) by digging saps

(tr) to weaken

Word Origin for sap

C16 zappe, from Italian zappa spade, of uncertain origin; perhaps from Old Italian (dialect) zappo a goat

SAP

abbreviation for

South African Police

SAP

n acronym for (in Britain)

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

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

Word Origin and History for saps

sap

n.1

"liquid in a plant," Old English sæpm from Proto-Germanic *sapam (cf. Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch sap, Old High German saf, German Saft "juice"), from PIE *sab- "juice, fluid" (cf. Latin sapere "to taste"), from root *sab- "juice, fluid" (cf. Sanskrit sabar- "sap, milk, nectar," Irish sug, Russian soku "sap," Lithuanian sakas "tree-gum"). As a verb meaning "To drain the sap from," 1725.

sap

n.2

"simpleton," 1815, originally especially in Scottish and English schoolboy slang, probably from earlier sapskull (1735), saphead (1798), from sap as a shortened form of sapwood "soft wood between the inner bark and the heartwood" (late 14c.), from sap (n.1) + wood (n.); so called because it conducts the sap; cf. sappy.

sap

v.1

"dig a trench toward the enemy's position," 1590s, from Middle French saper, from sappe "spade," from Late Latin sappa "spade" (cf. Italian zappa, Spanish zapa "spade"). Extended sense "weaken or destroy insidiously" is from 1755, probably influenced by the verb form of sap (n.1), on the notion of "draining the vital sap from." Related: Sapped; sapping.

sap

n.3

"club, stick for hitting," 1899, from shortening of sapwood (see sap (n.2)) or sapling.

sap

v.2

"hit with a sap," 1926, from sap (n.3). Related: Sapped; sapping.

saps in Science

sap

[săp]

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.

See cell sap.