sap

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

sap, n. [AS. sæp; 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.].

•  The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]
•  The sapwood, or alburnum, of a tree.  [1913 Webster]
•  A simpleton; a saphead; a milksop.  [1913 Webster]

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 (Zoöl.), any one of several species of small American woodpeckers of the genus Sphyrapicus, especially the yellow-bellied woodpecker (S. 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, v. t. [F. saper (cf. Sp. zapar, It. zapare), fr. sape a sort of scythe, LL. sappa a sort of mattock.].

•  To subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine; to undermine; to destroy the foundation of.  [1913 Webster]

  "Nor safe their dwellings were, for sapped by floods,
  Their houses fell upon their household gods."  [1913 Webster]
•  To pierce with saps.  [1913 Webster]
•  To make unstable or infirm; to unsettle; to weaken.  [1913 Webster]

  "Ring out the grief that saps the mind."  [1913 Webster]

sap, v. i. 

 To proceed by mining, or by secretly undermining; to execute saps.  W. P. Craighill.  [1913 Webster]
"Both assaults are carried on by sapping."  [1913 Webster]

sap, n. 

 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.  [1913 Webster]

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

sap, n. & v.
--n.
1 the vital juice circulating in plants.
2 vigour; vitality.
3 = SAPWOOD.
4 US sl. a bludgeon (orig. one made from a sapling).
--v.tr. (sapped, sapping)
1 drain or dry (wood) of sap.
2 exhaust the vigour of (my energy had been sapped by disappointment).
3 remove the sapwood from (a log).
4 US sl. hit with a sap.

Idiom

sap-green n.
1 the pigment made from buckthorn berries.
2 the colour of this.
--adj. of this colour.

Derivative

sapful adj. sapless adj.

sap, n. & v.
--n.
1 a tunnel or trench to conceal assailants' approach to a fortified place; a covered siege-trench.
2 an insidious or slow undermining of a belief, resolution, etc.
--v. (sapped, sapping)
1 intr. a dig a sap or saps. b approach by a sap.
2 tr. undermine; make insecure by removing the foundations.
3 tr. destroy insidiously.

sap, n. sl. a foolish person.

Etymology

abbr. of sapskull f. SAP(1) = sapwood + SKULL

THESAURUS

sap

abate, abri, approach trench, asshole, attenuate, axiom, babe, beverage, blood, blunt, boob, booby, bore, bunker, burrow, center, chump, cinch, communication trench, core, countermine, coupure, cramp, credulous person, cripple, cull, damp, dampen, deaden, debilitate, delve, dematerialize, deplete, destroy, devitalize, dig, dig out, dike, ding-a-ling, dingbat, dingdong, disable, disembody, distillate, distillation, ditch, double sap, drain, dredge, drill, drink, drive, dugout, dull, dupe, easy mark, easy pickings, elixir, enervate, enfeeble, entrenchment, essence, essential, etherealize, eviscerate, excavate, exhaust, extenuate, fabric, fall guy, fire trench, fish, flower, fluid, fluid extract, fluid mechanics, flying sap, focus, fool, fortified tunnel, fosse, foxhole, fundamental, furrow, gallery, galoot, gist, gobe-mouches, goof, gouge, gouge out, gravamen, greener, greenhorn, greeny, groove, grub, gruel, gudgeon, gull, heart, honeycomb, hydraulics, hydrogeology, hypostasis, inner essence, innocent, jerk, jerk-off, juice, kernel, klutz, knock out, latex, lay low, leadpipe cinch, liquid, liquid extract, liquor, lower, mark, marrow, material, matter, meat, medium, milk, mine, mitigate, moat, monkey, mutt, nub, nucleus, nuts and bolts, overset, overthrow, overturn, parallel, patsy, pigeon, pith, plaything, postulate, principle, prize sap, pushover, quarry, quid, quiddity, quintessence, rarefy, rattle, reduce, ruin, sabotage, sap the foundations, saphead, sawney, schlemiel, scoop, scoop out, scrabble, scrape, scratch, semiliquid, shake, shake up, shovel, sink, sitting duck, slit trench, soften up, soul, spade, spirit, spiritualize, stooge, stuff, substance, subtilize, subvert, sucker, sum and substance, the nitty-gritty, throw down, throw over, toy, trench, trough, trusting soul, tunnel, unbrace, undermine, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, upend, upset, victim, water, weaken, whey, wreck

ROGET THESAURUS

sap

Intrinsicality

N intrinsicality, inbeing, inherence, inhesion, subjectiveness, ego, egohood, essence, noumenon, essentialness, essential part, quintessence, incarnation, quiddity, gist, pith, marrow, core, sap, lifeblood, backbone, heart, soul, important part, principle, nature, constitution, character, type, quality, crasis, diathesis, habit, temper, temperament, spirit, humor, grain, disposition, endowment, capacity, capability, moods, declensions, features, aspects, peculiarities, idiosyncrasy, oddity, idiocrasy, diagnostics, derived from within, subjective, intrinsic, intrinsical, fundamental, normal, implanted, inherent, essential, natural, innate, inborn, inbred, ingrained, inwrought, coeval with birth, genetous, haematobious, syngenic, radical, incarnate, thoroughbred, hereditary, inherited, immanent, congenital, congenite, connate, running in the blood, ingenerate, ingenite, indigenous, in the grain, bred in the bone, instinctive, inward, internal, to the manner born, virtual, characteristic, invariable, incurable, incorrigible, ineradicable, fixed, intrinsically, at bottom, in the main, in effect, practically, virtually, substantially, au fond, fairly, character is higher than intellect, come give us a taste of your quality, magnos homines virtute metimur non fortuna, non numero haec judicantur sed pondere, vital spark of heavenly flame.

Deterioration

VB be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated Adj, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate.

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Attack

VB attack, assault, assail, invade, set upon, fall upon, charge, impugn, break a lance with, enter the lists, assume the offensive, take the offensive, be the aggressor, become the aggressor, strike the first blow, draw first blood, throw the first stone at, lift a hand against, draw the sword against, take up the cudgels, advance against, march against, march upon, harry, come on, show fight, strike at, poke at, thrust at, aim a blow at, deal a blow at, give one a blow, fetch one a blow, fetch one a kick, give one a kick, have a cut at, have a shot at, take a cut at, take a shot at, have a fling at, have a shy at, be down upon, pounce upon, fall foul of, pitch into, launch out against, bait, slap on the face, make a thrust at, make a pass at, make a set at, make a dead set at, bear down upon, close with, come to close quarters, bring to bay, ride full tilt against, attack tooth and nail, go at hammer and tongs, let fly at, dash at, run a tilt at, rush at, tilt at, run at, fly at, hawk at, have at, let out at, make a dash, make a rush at, strike home, drive one hard, press one hard, be hard upon, run down, strike at the root of, lay about one, run amuck, aim at, draw a bead on, fire upon, fire at, fire a shot at, shoot at, pop at, level at, let off a gun at, open fire, pepper, bombard, shell, pour a broadside into, fire a volley, fire red-hot shot, spring a mine, throw a stone, throw stones at, stone, lapidate, pelt, hurl at, hurl against, hurl at the head of, rock beset, besiege, beleaguer, lay siege to, invest, open the trenches, plant a battery, sap, mine, storm, board, scale the walls, cut and thrust, bayonet, butt, kick, strike, whip, assail, impugn, malign (detract), bomb, rocket, blast.

Infant

N infant, babe, baby, babe in arms, nurseling, suckling, yearling, weanling, papoose, bambino, kid, vagitus, child, bairn, little one, brat, chit, pickaninny, urchin, bantling, bratling, elf, youth, boy, lad, stripling, youngster, youngun, younker, callant, whipster, whippersnapper, whiffet, schoolboy, hobbledehoy, hopeful, cadet, minor, master, scion, sap, seedling, tendril, olive branch, nestling, chicken, larva, chrysalis, tadpole, whelp, cub, pullet, fry, callow, codlin, codling, foetus, calf, colt, pup, foal, kitten, lamb, lambkin, aurelia, caterpillar, cocoon, nymph, nympha, orphan, pupa, staddle, girl, lass, lassie, wench, miss, damsel, demoiselle, maid, maiden, virgin, hoyden, infantine, infantile, puerile, boyish, girlish, childish, babyish, kittenish, baby, newborn, unfledged, new-fledged, callow, in the cradle, in swaddling clothes, in long clothes, in arms, in leading strings, at the breast, in one's teens.

Destruction

VB be destroyed, perish, fall to the ground, tumble, topple, go to pieces, fall to pieces, break up, crumble to dust, go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin, go by the board, go all to smash, be all over, be all up, be all with, totter to its fall, destroy, do away with, make away with, nullify, annual, sacrifice, demolish, tear up, overturn, overthrow, overwhelm, upset, subvert, put an end to, seal the doom of, do in, do for, dish, undo, break up, cut up, break down, cut down, pull down, mow down, blow down, beat down, suppress, quash, put down, do a job on, cut short, take off, blot out, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, consume, smash, crash, quell, squash, squelch, crumple up, shatter, shiver, batter to pieces, tear to pieces, crush to pieces, cut to pieces, shake to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, laniate, nip, tear to rags, tear to tatters, crush to atoms, knock to atoms, ruin, strike out, throw over, knock down over, fell, sink, swamp, scuttle, wreck, shipwreck, engulf, ingulf, submerge, lay in ashes, lay in ruins, sweep away, erase, wipe out, expunge, raze, level with the dust, level with the ground, waste, atomize, vaporize, deal destruction, desolate, devastate, lay waste, ravage gut, disorganize, dismantle, devour, swallow up, sap, mine, blast, bomb, blow to smithereens, drop the big one, confound, exterminate, extinguish, quench, annihilate, snuff out, put out, stamp out, trample out, lay in the dust, trample in the dust, prostrate, tread under foot, crush under foot, trample under foot, lay the ax to the root of, make short work of, make clean sweep of, make mincemeat of, cut up root and branch, chop into pieces, cut into ribbons, fling to the winds, scatter to the winds, throw overboard, strike at the root of, sap the foundations of, spring a mine, blow up, ravage with fire and sword, cast to the dogs, eradicate.

Concavity

VB be concave, retire, cave in, render concave, depress, hollow, scoop, scoop out, gouge, gouge out, dig, delve, excavate, dent, dint, mine, sap, undermine, burrow, tunnel, stave in.

Fluidity

N fluidity, liquidity, liquidness, gaseity, fluid, inelastic fluid, liquid, liquor, lymph, humor, juice, sap, serum, blood, serosity, gravy, rheum, ichor, sanies, chyle, solubility, solubleness, hydrology, hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, liquid, fluid, serous, juicy, succulent, sappy, ichorous, fluent, liquefied, uncongealed, soluble.