Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Sap

Sap

,
Noun.
[AS.
saep
; akin to OHG.
saf
, G.
saft
, Icel.
safi
; of uncertain origin; possibly akin to L.
sapere
to taste, to be wise,
sapa
must or new wine boiled thick. Cf.
Sapid
,
Sapient
.]
1.
The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition.
☞ The ascending is the crude sap, the assimilation of which takes place in the leaves, when it becomes the elaborated sap suited to the growth of the plant.
2.
The sapwood, or alburnum, of a tree.
3.
A simpleton; a saphead; a milksop.
[Slang]
Sap ball
(Bot.)
,
any large fungus of the genus Polyporus. See
Polyporus
.
–
Sap green
,
a dull light green pigment prepared from the juice of the ripe berries of the
Rhamnus catharticus
, or buckthorn. It is used especially by water-color artists.
–
Sap rot
,
the dry rot. See under
Dry
.
–
Sap sucker
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of small American woodpeckers of the genus
Sphyrapicus
, especially the yellow-bellied woodpecker (
Sphyrapicus varius
) of the Eastern United States. They are so named because they puncture the bark of trees and feed upon the sap. The name is loosely applied to other woodpeckers.
–
Sap tube
(Bot.)
,
a vessel that conveys sap.

Sap

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sapped
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Sapping
.]
[F.
saper
(cf. Sp.
zapar
, It.
zapare
), fr.
sape
a sort of scythe, LL.
sappa
a sort of mattock.]
1.
To subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine; to undermine; to destroy the foundation of.
Nor safe their dwellings were, for
sapped
by floods,
Their houses fell upon their household gods.
Dryden.
2.
(Mil.)
To pierce with saps.
3.
To make unstable or infirm; to unsettle; to weaken.
Ring out the grief that
saps
the mind.
Tennyson.

Sap

,
Verb.
I.
To proceed by mining, or by secretly undermining; to execute saps.
W. P. Craighill.
Both assaults are carried on by
sapping
.
Tatler.

Sap

,
Noun.
(Mil.)
A narrow ditch or trench made from the foremost parallel toward the glacis or covert way of a besieged place by digging under cover of gabions, etc.
Sap fagot
(Mil.)
,
a fascine about three feet long, used in sapping, to close the crevices between the gabions before the parapet is made.
–
Sap roller
(Mil.)
,
a large gabion, six or seven feet long, filled with fascines, which the sapper sometimes rolls along before him for protection from the fire of an enemy.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sap

SAP

, n.
1.
The juice of plants of any kind, which flows chiefly between the wood and the bark. From the sap of a species of maple, is made sugar of a good quality by evaporation.
2.
The alburnum of a tree; the exterior part of the wood, next to the bark. [A sense in general use in New England.]

SAP

, v.t.
1.
To undermine; to subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine.
Their dwellings were sapp'd by floods.
2.
To undermine; to subvert by removing the foundation of. Discontent saps the foundation of happiness. Intrigue and corruption sap the constitution of a free government.

SAP

,
Verb.
I.
To proceed by mining, or by secretly undermining.
Both assaults are carried on by sapping.

SAP

,
Noun.
In sieges, a trench for undermining; or an approach made to a fortified place by digging or under cover. The single sap has only a single parapet; the double has one on each side, and the flying is made with gabions, &c. In all saps, traverses are left to cover the men.

Definition 2024

sap

sap

See also: SAP, sáp, sắp, sæp, s.ap., -sap, and Sap.

English

Noun

sap ‎(countable and uncountable, plural saps)

  1. (uncountable) The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition.
  2. (uncountable) The sapwood, or alburnum, of a tree.
  3. (slang, countable) A simpleton; a saphead; a milksop; a naive person.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Probably from sapling.

Noun

sap ‎(plural saps)

  1. (countable, US, slang) A short wooden club; a leather-covered hand weapon; a blackjack.
Translations

Verb

sap ‎(third-person singular simple present saps, present participle sapping, simple past and past participle sapped)

  1. (transitive, slang) To strike with a sap (with a blackjack).
Translations

Etymology 3

From French saper (compare Spanish zapar and Italian zappare) from sape ‎(“sort of scythe”), from Late Latin sappa ‎(“sort of mattock”).

Noun

sap ‎(plural saps)

  1. (military) A narrow ditch or trench made from the foremost parallel toward the glacis or covert way of a besieged place by digging under cover of gabions, etc.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

sap ‎(third-person singular simple present saps, present participle sapping, simple past and past participle sapped)

  1. (transitive) To subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine; to undermine; to destroy the foundation of.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden
      Nor safe their dwellings were, for sapped by floods, / Their houses fell upon their household gods.
  2. (transitive, military) To pierce with saps.
  3. To make unstable or infirm; to unsettle; to weaken.
  4. (transitive) To gradually weaken.
    • to sap one’s conscience
  5. (intransitive) To proceed by mining, or by secretly undermining; to execute saps — 12
Translations

Anagrams

Aromanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *sappō, from Latin sappa. Compare Romanian săpa, sap, French saper, Italian zappare, Sicilian zappari, Spanish zapar, Friulian sapâ, Venetian sapar, Latin sappa.

Verb

sap ‎(past participle sãpatã)

  1. I dig (with a pick).

Related terms

See also

Catalan

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ap

Verb

sap

  1. third-person singular present indicative form of saber

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch sap, from Old Dutch *sap, from Proto-Germanic *sapą. Cognate to English sap and German Saft (from Old High German saf).[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɑp/
  • Rhymes: -ɑp

Noun

sap n ‎(plural sappen, diminutive sapje n)

  1. sap (fluid in plants)
  2. juice

Hyponyms

Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ J. de Vries & F. de Tollenaere, "Etymologisch Woordenboek", Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1986 (14de druk)

Anagrams

Lojban

Rafsi

sap

  1. rafsi of sampu.

Romani

Etymology

From Sanskrit सर्प ‎(sarpá, “snake”).

Noun

sap m

  1. snake

Turkish

Etymology

From Old Turkic sap, from Proto-Turkic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɑp/

Noun

sap

  1. shaft

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin sapiō ‎(“I am wise”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɑːp/

Noun

sap

  1. wisdom

Etymology

From Middle English sap, from Old English sæp ‎(“juice, sap”), from Proto-Germanic *sapą ‎(“sap, juice”) (compare East Frisian/Dutch sap, German Saft, Icelandic safi), from Proto-Indo-European *sab-, *sap- ‎(“to taste”) (compare Welsh syb-wydd ‎(“fir”), Latin sapa ‎(“must, new wine”), Russian со́пли ‎(sópli, “snivel”), Armenian համ ‎(ham, “juice, taste”), Avestan [script needed] ‎(vi-šāpa, “having poisonous juices”), Sanskrit सबर् ‎(sabar, “juice, nectar”)). More at sage.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sæp/
  • Rhymes: -æp

Similar Results