sapwood

[ sap-wood ]

/ ˈsæpˌwʊd /

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noun Botany.

the softer part of the wood between the inner bark and the heartwood.

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Also called alburnum.

Origin of sapwood

First recorded in 1785–95; sap¹ + wood¹

Words nearby sapwood

saprozoic, SAPS, sapsago, sapsucker, Sapulpa, sapwood, Saqqara, SAR, Sara, saraband, sarabande

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sapwood in a sentence

How to tap a treeDrill a hole through the bark, about 2 inches into the sapwood, angling the hole upward.
Make your own maple syrup without harming the trees|By Tim MacWelch/Outdoor Life|February 7, 2021|Popular-Science
Diseases of the sapwood cut off the water supply, which is pumped upward from the roots.
Our National Forests|Richard H. Douai Boerker
Upon exposure by a wound, the sapwood just underneath the bark dies, dries out, and checks.
Our National Forests|Richard H. Douai Boerker
A feller that kin kick like that didn't orter be called Sapwood nor Saphead nor Sapanything.
Two Little Savages|Ernest Thompson Seton

It is a bright red-brown with a thin outer edge of paler sapwood.
Forest Trees of Illinois|Fuller George D.
This external evidence should be supplemented by cutting down to the sapwood.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Second Annual Meeting|Northern Nut Growers Association

British Dictionary definitions for sapwood

sapwood

/ (ˈsæpˌwʊd) /

noun

the soft wood, just beneath the bark in tree trunks, that consists of living tissueCompare heartwood

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

Scientific definitions for sapwood

sapwood

[ săp′wud′ ]

The younger layers of new wood produced by the interior side of the vascular cambium within a tree trunk. Sapwood is active in the conduction of water and is usually lighter in color than heartwood.