| 释义 |
nounPlural saps sapsæp mass noun1The fluid which circulates in the vascular system of a plant, consisting chiefly of water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts. Example sentencesExamples - Hummingbirds favored the maguey cactus, and people who extracted the plant's sap were also known as hummingbirds.
- Place them in a plastic bag - a dry leaf will not be useful when we are identifying the virus with serological testing and we need the plant sap from the leaves.
- Travellers, short on water rations, have died drinking the milky sap of its poisonous foliage.
- The sucrose is transferred in the plant sap from the leaf to the grape berry.
- The forest quickly engulfed them but the normal freshness of flowers, sap, and growing plants were void in such a place.
- Cutting flowers or pruning back in the fall keeps the plant's sap running.
- Large modern sugarmakers use a complex system of plastic tubes that carry sap from the tree to roadside storage tanks or directly to the sugarhouse.
- Woody stemmed plants, like Buddleia and plants that ooze sap, like Asclepias, should be cut and placed in hot water.
- He prepared his own paints by combining vegetable and mineral colorings with tree sap in a grinding bowl.
- Vervet monkeys are omnivorous and consume a wide range of plant materials like fruits, seeds, sap, and flowers.
- Traditional methods of identifying water stress use sensors to measure water pressure in individual, removed leaves, or the flow of sap through the plant stem.
- Bees collect this gummy resin from tree sap, flowers, and vegetables, and then mix it with their own beeswax.
- Create a living smorgasbord that includes plants with berries, foliage, fruit, nectar, nuts, pollen, sap, and seeds, so critters can dine on what they like.
- The combination of excess sugar sap and sunny days create an abundance of the pigment anthocyanin and the brilliant fall colors of crimson and purple.
- When it shoves its tubelike mouthparts into a plant to suck sap from the xylem, the insect may transmit a deadly plant bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, in its saliva.
- The dried sap of Aloe vera is a traditional remedy used for diabetes in the Arabian peninsula.
- A special type of beneficial root fungi, called mycorrhizae, actually grow into plant roots, feeding off plant sap but also providing water and nutrients to the plant.
- All weaken a plant by sucking sap, causing chlorotic spots on the tops of the leaves.
- With blood shortages for transfusions, companies are researching artificial blood, including human hemoglobin cultured in plant sap.
- Soybean aphids injure soybeans by removing plant sap with their needle-like mouthparts.
Synonyms plant fluid, vital fluid, life fluid, juice, secretion, liquor, liquid - 1.1 Vigour or energy.
the hot, heady days of youth when the sap was rising Example sentencesExamples - They were fresh and flourishing, full of sap and vigor, though many of them had been born long before him.
Synonyms vigour, energy, gusto, drive, push, brio, dynamism, life, go, spirit, liveliness, animation, bounce, sparkle, effervescence, fizz, verve, spiritedness, ebullience, high spirits, enthusiasm, initiative, vitality, vivacity, fire, dash, panache, elan, snap, zest, zeal, exuberance informal feistiness, get-up-and-go, gumption, oomph, pizzazz, vim, zing, zip
verbsaps, sapped, sapping sapsæp [with object]1Gradually weaken or destroy (a person's strength or power) our energy is being sapped by bureaucrats and politicians Example sentencesExamples - Gradually but surely, that tiresome old anecdote has sapped my strength, undermined my constitution, withered my life.
- He kept his arms and legs moving, feeling the energy sap from his muscles.
- There are thousands of Internet radio stations that sap the power of a small number of program directors.
- But for businesses, foreign competition saps pricing power, forcing companies to improve efficiency and cut costs.
- The moment of straining to control the extra power had taken some of my reserves, sapping my magical strength.
- By the fall of 1956, the movement was in full decline-its strength sapped by controversy, petty infighting, and public apathy.
- But I suspect that the close-sounding amplification was slightly sapping the singers' powers of expression.
- Painkillers sapped his strength and cottonwooled his consciousness.
- Some theorists were attracted to notions of climatic determinism, believing that heat and humidity would sap Australians' intellectual powers.
- The spirit of individualism is sapping the strength and resolve of early pioneers, but some of this spirit is still alive, and this makes it possible for the Israeli society to withstand the generation-long pressure.
- For example, you may in a rush grab processed or sugary snacks and drink lots of coffee, which can lower your immunity and sap your energy.
- Over the past months, as I had tried unsuccessfully to fight colds and infections, a tumor had been growing inside my chest, sapping my strength and will power.
- The theory behind this global community outreach program of mine is that the quickest and easiest way to sap the power out of racial slurs and stereotypes is to dilute them with a bunch of nonsense.
- It was before the blood disorder amyloidosis began sapping his strength, and he had just delivered a rollicking speech, without notes as usual, to a hugely appreciative audience.
- Mildew destroys new shoots on apples and gradually saps the tree's vigor.
- Would I have the nerve to pick out a wig that was fun and frivolous, or would the illness sap my sense of humor?
- Your official passion for evidence is gradually sapping your brilliant intellect and smothering your instincts.
- She was also there as carer when Alzheimer's disease sapped his memory in the sunset of his life at the couple's Bel-Air home.
- Long debates and community objections more often than not sap initial energy.
- To abandon this tradition would sap Australia's sense of itself.
Synonyms erode, wear away, wear down, deplete, reduce, lessen, lower, attenuate, undermine, exhaust, impair, drain, bleed, consume drain, empty, exhaust, deprive, milk - 1.1sap someone of Drain someone of (strength or power)
her illness had sapped her of energy and life Example sentencesExamples - Despite his physical fitness Jack's weight has already gone from 14 stone to 12 stone sapping him of vital energy.
- South Morang is a ludicrously boring place which saps you of the will to do anything but turn around and go home.
- Minute by minute he was sapped of precious strength.
- Pretending to be a happy guy around Stephanie was just sapping me of my energy reserves, as did listening to her, since these days she expected an actual answer instead of a nod.
- Too much anxiety or fear leads to a constant flood of adrenaline in your body, which can eventually sap you of energy.
- He just didn't realize that, in addition to making him wheeze and sneeze, pollens could sap him of his energy.
- Walking the short distance to the mall seemed to have sapped him of all his remaining strength.
- Still, he's a flawed guy, and the Philistines capitalize on this by sending in top-secret operative Delilah, the seductive hottie charged with sapping Samson of his strength (no, not that way).
- Until now Zak, who can't eat and is fed through tubes in his stomach, only had to go on oxygen at night after his oxygen levels dropped sapping him of energy.
- He might be back, too, if his mysterious benign tumor stops sapping him of his strength.
- And it did, too, until he caught a virus that sapped him of his usual, boundless energy and he struggled the first two weeks of the season.
- Last week was occupied with preparations for and the writing of the Obernewtyn Awards, which rather sapped me of creative energy.
- What she had seen last week had sapped her of all energy.
- Overcooking vegetables saps them of flavour and texture and makes them far less healthy to eat, as the vitamins and minerals become lost in the cooking water.
- I wondered why she didn't get up then I realized that shock had sapped her of her strength.
- The last vision had been so vivid that it had sapped her of nearly all of her strength.
- He planned to sap Elisabeth of all her powers, and then to take over the bridge and all worlds.
- She even fed him and kept him healthy for six weeks, but producing milk sapped her of the last of her energy and she had to be put down.
- Happiness saps me of the will to write, because there are plenty of other things that I could be doing, like frolicking merrily through forests, mountain biking, or charming people with my wit and erudition.
- This work, however, saps them of the strength required to fulfill their dreams.
Derivatives adjective adjective ˈsapləsˈsæpləs His feet slipped over fallen deadwood and sapless branches that snapped like gunshots as he ran amongst them. Example sentencesExamples - The sapless conducting of Oleg Caetani meant that the performance failed to take fire.
- As you pity all sapless humans, you must pity and have understanding for the sapless priest.
- The Earth, sapless, bore no fruit; the seed lay barren for want of the rain.
- Tirukural 78: Life without love in the heart is like a sapless tree in a barren desert.
Origin Old English sæp, probably of Germanic origin. The verb (dating from the mid 18th century) is often interpreted as a figurative use of the notion ‘drain the sap from’, but is derived originally from the verb sap2, in the sense 'undermine'. Old English sæp ‘vital fluid’ is probably of Germanic origin. The verb (as in sapped his energy) dating from the mid 18th century is often interpreted as a figurative use of the notion ‘drain the sap from’ but is unrelated. It comes originally from the late 16th-century verb sap ‘dig a tunnel or covered trench’ thus meaning ‘undermine’. The latter is from French saper, from Italian zappa ‘spade, spadework’, probably from Arabic sarab ‘underground passage’, or sabora ‘probe a wound, explore’. This is where the military engineers called sappers get their name.
Rhymes bap, cap, chap, clap, dap, entrap, enwrap, flap, frap, gap, giftwrap, hap, knap, lap, Lapp, map, nap, nappe, pap, rap, schappe, scrap, slap, snap, strap, tap, trap, wrap, yap, zap nounPlural saps sapsæp historical A tunnel or trench to conceal an assailant's approach to a fortified place. Example sentencesExamples - It took me over an hour to get there for I met all the infantry coming down the sap.
- Immediately after the explosion, the besiegers could assault the fortress or extend their sap trenches into the crater and reinforce them with gabions.
- Major-General Pratt ordered his men to dig a long sap trench.
- In the British army, a standard cry was ‘follow the sapper’, the term for those who, under engineer officers, dug the saps or shelter trenches used in the attack on fortresses.
verbsaps, sapped, sapping sapsæp [no object]historical 1Dig a sap or saps. having sapped up to the glacis of the city ramparts, Versaillais troops entered the city Example sentencesExamples - They complained that they were not allowed to use bombs or to sap and mine the streets held by the insurgents, and they did not want to give quarter to anyone any more.
- The main section of this unit comprised of paratroopers, including those trained in sapping.
- The geophone, an instrument invented by the French during the War to detect sapping operations of the Germans underground, has been developed by U. S. Engineers for rescue work in mines, gauging tunnel borings, etc.
- The engineers, in fortification and in sapping, were superior to those of other armies and already made use of electric detonators in the 1850s.
- 1.1archaic with object Make insecure by removing the foundations of.
a crazy building, sapped and undermined by the rats Example sentencesExamples - Finally it was found that the foundations were decayed, having been sapped by the constant flooding and it was decided to demolish the church and build a new one.
- 1.2Geography with object Undercut by water or glacial action.
cliffs may form cirque-like alcoves around the head of springs as a result of sapping Example sentencesExamples - The beach systems are formed entirely by groundwater outflow and sapping where the water table intersects the beach face.
Origin Late 16th century (as a verb in the sense 'dig a sap or covered trench'): from French saper, from Italian zappare, from zappa 'spade, spadework', probably from Arabic sarab 'underground passage', or sabora 'probe a wound, explore'. nounPlural saps sapsæp North American informal A bludgeon or club. Example sentencesExamples - Too many of them jumped me, pinning me with claws and weight so they could use their saps and truncheons until I was in no condition to struggle.
- I hit him with a sap.
verbsaps, sapped, sapping sapsæp [with object]North American informal Hit with a bludgeon or club. it was nice to see someone else get sapped for a change Example sentencesExamples - She sapped him again, this time in his solar plexus, and he fell, unconscious.
Origin Late 19th century (as a noun): abbreviation of sapling (from which such a club was originally made). nounPlural saps sapsæp North American informal A foolish and gullible person. He fell for it! What a sap! Example sentencesExamples - By cutting taxes, we can make the saps work harder and raise even more money for the welfare/warfare state.
- Thank goodness the cameras are there to capture Lady Luck smiling on these heartbroken saps, who really just want to find real love.
- I had thought about buying a place up here myself, but then I'd be obligated to entertain social climbing saps and I do enough of that when Parliament is in session.
- Television writers are usually tiny, weak, sunlight-deprived saps who are kept chained to a wall in a cupboard.
- If Brit-pop's in fact dead, there's a nation of lonely-hearted saps ready to pick up the pieces of shattered hearts from the rainy country and lead a world of crybabies to salvation.
- The message I get from this ad is total jerks and saps favor Carl's Jr's.
- The poor saps (myself included) who have tried to use this Web site have already lost more time and leasing agreements than any benefit we might have earned through its availability off-campus.
- Although, few came right out and said it, the implication was that socially concerned investors were good-hearted saps, destined for sub-par returns.
- You haven't dragged some poor sap along all this way, have you?
- They most certainly wanted all the saps watching to believe in the sign's authenticity and go hunting for this mysterious website.
- Carey wanted the insipid, social-climbing saps to leave her alone.
- Superficially, I can picture only saps or children falling prey.
- Walk into any bar on a Friday night and she's sure to be there, working her delicate trade, soaking up free drinks as fast as she can get saps to buy them.
- Some poor saps nominate their wife or mammy, but the 24-carat buck responds, ‘John Doe, managing director of company X’ (ie, the boss).
- It is naturally assumed not only that we poor saps queuing in line need constant diversion, but that we need infantile diversion of the worst kind.
- He idly wondered who the poor saps were who would be saddled with the escort duty on that one.
- So what happens to those poor saps who write encyclopedias for a living?
- This writer's contempt for the sensitive sap alone on a stool with his nylon-stringed guitar is matched only by his admiration for the one-man band-similar, but so much cooler.
- Why not live in the moment - and make other saps pay your way?
- You can groove with your honey while not feeling like such a sap.
Synonyms idiot, fool, ass, halfwit, nincompoop, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, cretin, imbecile, dullard, moron, simpleton, clod
Origin Early 19th century: abbreviation of dialect sapskull 'person with a head like sapwood', from sap1 (in the sense 'sapwood') + skull. nounsæpsap 1The fluid, chiefly water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts, that circulates in the vascular system of a plant. Example sentencesExamples - With blood shortages for transfusions, companies are researching artificial blood, including human hemoglobin cultured in plant sap.
- Large modern sugarmakers use a complex system of plastic tubes that carry sap from the tree to roadside storage tanks or directly to the sugarhouse.
- Vervet monkeys are omnivorous and consume a wide range of plant materials like fruits, seeds, sap, and flowers.
- Soybean aphids injure soybeans by removing plant sap with their needle-like mouthparts.
- A special type of beneficial root fungi, called mycorrhizae, actually grow into plant roots, feeding off plant sap but also providing water and nutrients to the plant.
- Cutting flowers or pruning back in the fall keeps the plant's sap running.
- The combination of excess sugar sap and sunny days create an abundance of the pigment anthocyanin and the brilliant fall colors of crimson and purple.
- The forest quickly engulfed them but the normal freshness of flowers, sap, and growing plants were void in such a place.
- Traditional methods of identifying water stress use sensors to measure water pressure in individual, removed leaves, or the flow of sap through the plant stem.
- He prepared his own paints by combining vegetable and mineral colorings with tree sap in a grinding bowl.
- Create a living smorgasbord that includes plants with berries, foliage, fruit, nectar, nuts, pollen, sap, and seeds, so critters can dine on what they like.
- Woody stemmed plants, like Buddleia and plants that ooze sap, like Asclepias, should be cut and placed in hot water.
- Place them in a plastic bag - a dry leaf will not be useful when we are identifying the virus with serological testing and we need the plant sap from the leaves.
- Bees collect this gummy resin from tree sap, flowers, and vegetables, and then mix it with their own beeswax.
- Hummingbirds favored the maguey cactus, and people who extracted the plant's sap were also known as hummingbirds.
- When it shoves its tubelike mouthparts into a plant to suck sap from the xylem, the insect may transmit a deadly plant bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, in its saliva.
- All weaken a plant by sucking sap, causing chlorotic spots on the tops of the leaves.
- The sucrose is transferred in the plant sap from the leaf to the grape berry.
- The dried sap of Aloe vera is a traditional remedy used for diabetes in the Arabian peninsula.
- Travellers, short on water rations, have died drinking the milky sap of its poisonous foliage.
Synonyms plant fluid, vital fluid, life fluid, juice, secretion, liquor, liquid - 1.1 Vigor or energy.
the hot, heady days of youth when the sap was rising Example sentencesExamples - They were fresh and flourishing, full of sap and vigor, though many of them had been born long before him.
Synonyms vigour, energy, gusto, drive, push, brio, dynamism, life, go, spirit, liveliness, animation, bounce, sparkle, effervescence, fizz, verve, spiritedness, ebullience, high spirits, enthusiasm, initiative, vitality, vivacity, fire, dash, panache, elan, snap, zest, zeal, exuberance
verbsæpsap [with object]1Gradually weaken or destroy (a person's strength or power) our energy is being sapped by bureaucrats and politicians Example sentencesExamples - It was before the blood disorder amyloidosis began sapping his strength, and he had just delivered a rollicking speech, without notes as usual, to a hugely appreciative audience.
- Mildew destroys new shoots on apples and gradually saps the tree's vigor.
- Long debates and community objections more often than not sap initial energy.
- To abandon this tradition would sap Australia's sense of itself.
- She was also there as carer when Alzheimer's disease sapped his memory in the sunset of his life at the couple's Bel-Air home.
- The moment of straining to control the extra power had taken some of my reserves, sapping my magical strength.
- There are thousands of Internet radio stations that sap the power of a small number of program directors.
- Would I have the nerve to pick out a wig that was fun and frivolous, or would the illness sap my sense of humor?
- But I suspect that the close-sounding amplification was slightly sapping the singers' powers of expression.
- Painkillers sapped his strength and cottonwooled his consciousness.
- Your official passion for evidence is gradually sapping your brilliant intellect and smothering your instincts.
- By the fall of 1956, the movement was in full decline-its strength sapped by controversy, petty infighting, and public apathy.
- Some theorists were attracted to notions of climatic determinism, believing that heat and humidity would sap Australians' intellectual powers.
- The theory behind this global community outreach program of mine is that the quickest and easiest way to sap the power out of racial slurs and stereotypes is to dilute them with a bunch of nonsense.
- Gradually but surely, that tiresome old anecdote has sapped my strength, undermined my constitution, withered my life.
- For example, you may in a rush grab processed or sugary snacks and drink lots of coffee, which can lower your immunity and sap your energy.
- He kept his arms and legs moving, feeling the energy sap from his muscles.
- The spirit of individualism is sapping the strength and resolve of early pioneers, but some of this spirit is still alive, and this makes it possible for the Israeli society to withstand the generation-long pressure.
- Over the past months, as I had tried unsuccessfully to fight colds and infections, a tumor had been growing inside my chest, sapping my strength and will power.
- But for businesses, foreign competition saps pricing power, forcing companies to improve efficiency and cut costs.
Synonyms erode, wear away, wear down, deplete, reduce, lessen, lower, attenuate, undermine, exhaust, impair, drain, bleed, consume drain, empty, exhaust, deprive, milk - 1.1sap someone of Drain someone of (strength or power)
her illness had sapped her of energy and life Example sentencesExamples - Still, he's a flawed guy, and the Philistines capitalize on this by sending in top-secret operative Delilah, the seductive hottie charged with sapping Samson of his strength (no, not that way).
- Despite his physical fitness Jack's weight has already gone from 14 stone to 12 stone sapping him of vital energy.
- What she had seen last week had sapped her of all energy.
- He might be back, too, if his mysterious benign tumor stops sapping him of his strength.
- Too much anxiety or fear leads to a constant flood of adrenaline in your body, which can eventually sap you of energy.
- South Morang is a ludicrously boring place which saps you of the will to do anything but turn around and go home.
- Minute by minute he was sapped of precious strength.
- I wondered why she didn't get up then I realized that shock had sapped her of her strength.
- Last week was occupied with preparations for and the writing of the Obernewtyn Awards, which rather sapped me of creative energy.
- Walking the short distance to the mall seemed to have sapped him of all his remaining strength.
- And it did, too, until he caught a virus that sapped him of his usual, boundless energy and he struggled the first two weeks of the season.
- This work, however, saps them of the strength required to fulfill their dreams.
- Until now Zak, who can't eat and is fed through tubes in his stomach, only had to go on oxygen at night after his oxygen levels dropped sapping him of energy.
- Happiness saps me of the will to write, because there are plenty of other things that I could be doing, like frolicking merrily through forests, mountain biking, or charming people with my wit and erudition.
- He planned to sap Elisabeth of all her powers, and then to take over the bridge and all worlds.
- He just didn't realize that, in addition to making him wheeze and sneeze, pollens could sap him of his energy.
- She even fed him and kept him healthy for six weeks, but producing milk sapped her of the last of her energy and she had to be put down.
- Overcooking vegetables saps them of flavour and texture and makes them far less healthy to eat, as the vitamins and minerals become lost in the cooking water.
- Pretending to be a happy guy around Stephanie was just sapping me of my energy reserves, as did listening to her, since these days she expected an actual answer instead of a nod.
- The last vision had been so vivid that it had sapped her of nearly all of her strength.
Origin Old English sæp, probably of Germanic origin. The verb (dating from the mid 18th century) is often interpreted as a figurative use of the notion ‘drain the sap from’, but is derived originally from the verb sap, in the sense ‘undermine’. nounsæpsap historical A tunnel or trench to conceal an assailant's approach to a fortified place. Example sentencesExamples - Major-General Pratt ordered his men to dig a long sap trench.
- It took me over an hour to get there for I met all the infantry coming down the sap.
- Immediately after the explosion, the besiegers could assault the fortress or extend their sap trenches into the crater and reinforce them with gabions.
- In the British army, a standard cry was ‘follow the sapper’, the term for those who, under engineer officers, dug the saps or shelter trenches used in the attack on fortresses.
verbsæpsap [no object]historical 1Dig a sap or saps. Example sentencesExamples - The main section of this unit comprised of paratroopers, including those trained in sapping.
- The engineers, in fortification and in sapping, were superior to those of other armies and already made use of electric detonators in the 1850s.
- They complained that they were not allowed to use bombs or to sap and mine the streets held by the insurgents, and they did not want to give quarter to anyone any more.
- The geophone, an instrument invented by the French during the War to detect sapping operations of the Germans underground, has been developed by U. S. Engineers for rescue work in mines, gauging tunnel borings, etc.
- 1.1archaic with object Make insecure by removing the foundations of.
a crazy building, sapped and undermined by the rats Example sentencesExamples - Finally it was found that the foundations were decayed, having been sapped by the constant flooding and it was decided to demolish the church and build a new one.
- 1.2often as noun sappingGeography with object Undercut by water or glacial action.
Example sentencesExamples - The beach systems are formed entirely by groundwater outflow and sapping where the water table intersects the beach face.
Origin Late 16th century (as a verb in the sense ‘dig a sap or covered trench’): from French saper, from Italian zappare, from zappa ‘spade, spadework’, probably from Arabic sarab ‘underground passage’, or sabora ‘probe a wound, explore’. nounsæpsap North American informal A bludgeon or club. Example sentencesExamples - Too many of them jumped me, pinning me with claws and weight so they could use their saps and truncheons until I was in no condition to struggle.
- I hit him with a sap.
verbsæpsap [with object]North American informal Hit with a bludgeon or club. it was nice to see someone else get sapped for a change Example sentencesExamples - She sapped him again, this time in his solar plexus, and he fell, unconscious.
Origin Late 19th century (as a noun): abbreviation of sapling (from which such a club was originally made). nounsæpsap North American informal A foolish and gullible person. He fell for it! What a sap! Example sentencesExamples - Thank goodness the cameras are there to capture Lady Luck smiling on these heartbroken saps, who really just want to find real love.
- Superficially, I can picture only saps or children falling prey.
- By cutting taxes, we can make the saps work harder and raise even more money for the welfare/warfare state.
- Some poor saps nominate their wife or mammy, but the 24-carat buck responds, ‘John Doe, managing director of company X’ (ie, the boss).
- Television writers are usually tiny, weak, sunlight-deprived saps who are kept chained to a wall in a cupboard.
- Although, few came right out and said it, the implication was that socially concerned investors were good-hearted saps, destined for sub-par returns.
- This writer's contempt for the sensitive sap alone on a stool with his nylon-stringed guitar is matched only by his admiration for the one-man band-similar, but so much cooler.
- Carey wanted the insipid, social-climbing saps to leave her alone.
- So what happens to those poor saps who write encyclopedias for a living?
- The poor saps (myself included) who have tried to use this Web site have already lost more time and leasing agreements than any benefit we might have earned through its availability off-campus.
- I had thought about buying a place up here myself, but then I'd be obligated to entertain social climbing saps and I do enough of that when Parliament is in session.
- It is naturally assumed not only that we poor saps queuing in line need constant diversion, but that we need infantile diversion of the worst kind.
- You haven't dragged some poor sap along all this way, have you?
- The message I get from this ad is total jerks and saps favor Carl's Jr's.
- Walk into any bar on a Friday night and she's sure to be there, working her delicate trade, soaking up free drinks as fast as she can get saps to buy them.
- You can groove with your honey while not feeling like such a sap.
- If Brit-pop's in fact dead, there's a nation of lonely-hearted saps ready to pick up the pieces of shattered hearts from the rainy country and lead a world of crybabies to salvation.
- Why not live in the moment - and make other saps pay your way?
- He idly wondered who the poor saps were who would be saddled with the escort duty on that one.
- They most certainly wanted all the saps watching to believe in the sign's authenticity and go hunting for this mysterious website.
Synonyms idiot, fool, ass, halfwit, nincompoop, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, cretin, imbecile, dullard, moron, simpleton, clod
Origin Early 19th century: abbreviation of dialect sapskull ‘person with a head like sapwood’, from sap (in the sense ‘sapwood’) + skull. |