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sap1
/sap/, n., v., sapped, sapping.n.1. the juice or vital circulating fluid of a plant, esp. of a woody plant.2. any vital body fluid.3. energy; vitality.4. sapwood.5. Slang. a fool; dupe.6. Metall. soft metal at the core of a bar of blister steel.v.t.7. to drain the sap from.sap2/sap/, n., v., sapped, sapping.n.1. Fort. a deep, narrow trench constructed so as to form an approach to a besieged place or an enemy's position.v.t.2. Fort.a. to approach (a besieged place or an enemy position) by means of deep, narrow trenches protected by gabions or parapets.b. to dig such trenches in (ground).3. to undermine; weaken or destroy insidiously.v.i.4. Fort. to dig a sap.[1585-95; < F sape (n.), deriv. of saper to dig a trench < It zappare, a military term, based on zappa hoe (cf. dial. It zappo he-goat < ?)]Syn. 3. impair, enfeeble, deplete, exhaust, enervate.
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▪ plant physiologywatery fluid of plants. Cell sap is a fluid found in the vacuoles (small cavities) of the living cell; it contains variable amounts of food and waste materials, inorganic salts, and nitrogenous compounds. Xylem sap carries soil nutrients (e.g., dissolved minerals) from the root system to the leaves; the water is then lost through transpiration. Maple sap is xylem sap, containing some sugar in late winter. Phloem, or sieve-tube, sap is the fluid carrying sugar from leaves to other parts of the plant in the summer. See also cohesion hypothesis.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
