sap

noun

/sæp/

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[uncountable] the liquid in a plant or tree that carries food to all its parts
- Maple syrup is made from sap extracted from the sugar maple tree.
Topics Plants and treesc2
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- plant
- tree
verb + sap
- collect
- extract
sap + verb
- flow
- rise
See full entry
[countable] (especially North American English, informal) a stupid person that you can easily trick, or treat unfairly
- The poor sap never knew what was going on behind his back.
Topics Personal qualitiesc2

Word Originnoun sense 1 Old English sæp, probably of Germanic origin. The verb (dating from the mid 18th cent.) 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’. noun sense 2 early 19th cent.: abbreviation of dialect sapskull ‘person with a head like sapwood’, from sap (in the sense ‘sapwood’) + skull.

sap

verb

/sæp/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they sap	/sæp/ /sæp/
he / she / it saps	/sæps/ /sæps/
past simple sapped	/sæpt/ /sæpt/
past participle sapped	/sæpt/ /sæpt/
-ing form sapping	/ˈsæpɪŋ/ /ˈsæpɪŋ/

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to make something/somebody weaker; to destroy something gradually
- sap something The hot sun sapped our energy.
- The fever slowly sapped her strength.
- sap somebody (of something) Years of failure have sapped him of his confidence.
Word Originverb Old English sæp, probably of Germanic origin. The verb (dating from the mid 18th cent.) 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’.