Definition

1. Noun:

   • A watery fluid that circulates through a plant: This is the vital liquid in plants, containing water, sugars, minerals, and hormones, essential for nourishment and growth.
   • A foolish or gullible person: (Informal) A person who is easily deceived or lacks good judgment.
   • A covered club or bludgeon: A weapon, typically a piece of metal covered in leather with a flexible handle.

2. Verb:

   • To gradually weaken or destroy: To undermine something's strength, energy, or power over time.
   • To drain of resources or vitality: To deplete or exhaust something, such as strength, finances, or morale.
   • To dig trenches or tunnels beneath: (Military) To approach or undermine an enemy position by digging.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Plant Fluid):

  • Maple sap is collected in early spring to make syrup.
  • The sap carries nutrients from the roots to the leaves.

• Noun (Foolish Person):

  • Don't be such a sap; that email is an obvious scam.
  • He felt like a sap for believing the salesman's promises.

• Verb (To Weaken):

  • The long illness began to sap her energy.
  • Constant criticism can sap an employee's confidence.

• Verb (To Deplete):

  • The unexpected car repairs sapped my savings.
  • The team's strength was sapped by the intense heat.

Advanced Usage

• "to sap (someone/something) of (something)": To drain a specific quality or resource from someone or something.
  • The bureaucratic process sapped the project of all its original momentum.
  • The tragedy sapped him of his joy.

Variants and Related Words

• Sappy (adj):

  • Full of sap; juicy: The sappy wood was not yet dry enough to burn.
  • Excessively sentimental or emotional: (Informal) The movie's ending was too sappy for my taste.

• Sapwood (n): The softer, younger outer layers of wood in a tree, through which the sap flows.

Synonyms

• Noun (Fluid): fluid, juice.
• Noun (Fool): fool, simpleton, dupe, pushover (informal).
• Verb (Weaken): weaken, undermine, erode, drain, exhaust.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Sap" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. The action is typically expressed directly: "sap [object]".)

Related Idioms

• The sap is rising:
  • Literal: Refers to the springtime flow of sap in trees.
  • Figurative: Indicates a feeling of youthful energy, vitality, or restlessness, often associated with spring.

    • You can tell it's spring; the sap is rising in everyone.

Noun

1. a piece of metal covered by leather with a flexible handle; used for hitting people
2. a person who lacks good judgment
3. a watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant

Verb

1. excavate the earth beneath
2. deplete
   • exhaust one's savings
   • We quickly played out our strength