sapn.1
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ 1.
a. The vital juice or fluid which circulates in plants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > fluid, juice, or sap
oozeeOE
sapOE
milkOE
slime?c1225
juicec1290
humoura1398
opiuma1398
watera1425
sop1513
afion1542
suc1551
suck1560
ab1587
lymph1682
blood1690
fluid1705
humidities1725
succus1771
plant milk1896
the world > matter > liquid > [noun] > types of liquid generally > liquid naturally contained in anything
sapOE
juicec1420
succosity?1527
OE Crist III 1176 Ða wearð beam monig blodigum tearum birunnen under rindum, reade ond þicce; sæp wearð to swate.
a1000 Gloss. in Germania N.S. XI. 391 Sucum, sep.
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 139/16 Cedrus, cederbeam. Cedria, his sæp.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 96 Þet zep of þo traue and þe tyeres weren uour wel preciouses þinges.
?c1377 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 218 Weor that impe ffully growe, That he had sarri, sap, and pith [etc.].
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xl Alway se that the top lye hyer thanne the rote a good quantytie, for els the sappe woll nat ronne into the toppe kyndely.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. ii. sig. C Like three faire branches budding farre and wide, That from one roote deriu'd their vitall sap . View more context for this quotation
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 7 The sap is the life of the tree, as the bloud is to mans body.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 837 Whose presence had infus'd Into the plant sciential sap . View more context for this quotation
1787 M. Cutler Explan. of Map 28 Oct. in W. P. Cutler & J. P. Cutler Life, Jrnls. & Corr. M. Cutler (1888) II. 398 The sugar maple is a most valuable tree... The sap is extracted in the months of February and March.
1820 P. B. Shelley Sensitive Plant in Prometheus Unbound 170 The sap shrank to the root through every pore.
1864 J. C. Geikie George Stanley xi. 186 We kept some sap for vinegar.
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. 650 All functions are brought into play only when the temperature of the plant..rises to a certain height above the freezing-point of the sap.
b. transferred and figurative.
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the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > as dependent on sustenance > means of life
bylivec1000
sustenancec1300
sustaining1395
sap1526
livinga1538
maintenance1540
life-breath1597
support1599
subsistence1606
through-bearing1705
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > essence or intrinsic nature > [noun] > vital part or vitalizing influence
pitheOE
sap1526
quicka1566
lifeblood1582
heartstring1584
entelechy1603
heart1603
heart-blood1606
heart and soul1616
heart's-blooda1631
life's bloodc1635
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Mvv The barke that defendeth the tree fro stormes and tempestes, is hope. And the sape that gyueth lyfe to bothe, is charite.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Richard III (1623) iv. iv. 263 A hand-kercheefe, which..did dreyne The purple sappe from her sweet Brothers body.
1696 R. Bentley Of Revel. & Messias 33 The Moral part of the law of Moses, which is the sap and marrow..of the whole.
1791 A. Wilson Poems (ed. 2) 160 Ye may be think that spinning's naething? An' that it wastes na sap nor breathing?
1832 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eugene Aram I. i. vi. 99 The sap of youth shrinks from our veins.
1865 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 169 My sap is sealed, My root is dry.
1942 T. S. Eliot Little Gidding i. 7 Between melting and freezing The soul's sap quivers.
1961 B. J. Chute Moon & Thorn iv. 37 An old man..gave her a more than reflective look as she passed, the sap still plainly rising in his branches.
c. Moisture in stone.
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the world > the earth > water > [noun] > water in stone
sap1881
1881 Dict. Arch. Publ. Soc. Quarry Damp, or Sap, the natural dampness of the stone when in the quarry.
1892 J. H. Middleton Anc. Rome I. 5 (note) What stone-masons call the ‘sap’ should always be allowed to dry out of stone before it is used.
d. Cytology. cell sap [translating German zellsaft] (see quot. 1875); nuclear sap, the fluid within the nuclear membrane.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > substance > cell > cell organelle or contents > [noun] > other organelles or contents
raphide1831
body1839
raphid1863
mucigen1874
cell sap1875
globoid1875
raphis1879
pyrenoid1883
mucinogen1884
plastid1885
molluscum corpuscle1886
hyalosome1889
molluscum body1892
statolith1892
dictyosome1893
centrosome1895
Nissl body1898
Nissl granule1898
Nissl substance1899
archespore1901
blepharoplast1907
liposome1910
statocone1910
kinetosome1912
Golgi body1916
kinetoplast1925
lipochondrion1936
microsome1943
kappa1945
Pappenheimer body1947
microbody1954
lysosome1955
siderosome1957
ribosome1958
melanosome1961
cisterna1962
microtubule1962
plasmalemmasome1962
phagolysosome1963
informosome1964
monosome1964
mucocyst1965
peroxisome1965
rhoptry1967
spectrin1968
virosome1970
1875 A. W. Bennett & W. T. T. Dyer tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. i. i. 62 The term Cell-sap may be understood in a wider or in a narrower sense. In the former it would express the collective mass of all fluids by which the cell-wall, the protoplasm~body, and all other organised structures of the cell are saturated, and would also embrace the fluids contained in the vacuoli of the protoplasm; in a narrower sense the latter only is ordinarily designated as cell-sap.
1884 Jrnl. Bot., Brit. & Foreign 22 124 The rich, violet-coloured cell-sap in the flower of Justicia speciosa..crystallizes very easily into minute slender prisms.
1887 Jrnl. Royal Microsc. Soc. 7 979 Linin and paralinin, the substance respectively of the nuclear threads..and of the intermediate matrix or ‘nuclear sap’.
1955 Internat. Rev. Cytol. IV. 293 Another suggestion for the origin of nucleolar material is that it is formed from nuclear sap.
1971 C. A. Villee & V. G. Dethier Biol. Princ. & Processes vi. 152 The activation of amino acids for protein synthesis, the process of glycolysis and many other reactions occur in the soluble cell sap.
1971 C. A. Villee & V. G. Dethier Biol. Princ. & Processes xvi. 499 The plant cell, inside its cellulose wall, has one or more large vacuoles filled with cell sap.
1975 Nature 4 Sept. 21/1 Similar preparations were..made from rat liver chromatin but after previous removal of ‘nuclear sap’ which contains soluble nuclear proteins.
1978 B. S. Beckett Illustr. Biol. xxxi. 62/1 As root hairs take up water their cell sap is diluted and soon becomes a weaker solution than the sap of cells deeper inside the root.
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the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > secretions of the ear > [noun]
earwaxa1350
sapc1440
eresopc1450
wax1706
cerumen1741
perilymph1838
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 441/1 Saap [Winchester MS. sap] of the ere, pedora.
ΚΠ
1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. bij Other lyquor or sape which ye wyl puryfye from all troublous and unclere substaunces.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Song of Sol. viii. 1 The swete sappe of my pomgranates.
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet To Indiff. Rdr. It is said that camels neuer drinke, til they have troubled the water with their feete, and it seemes these Martins cannot carouse the sapp of the Church, til by faction they make tumults in religion.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 449 That the three principall Elements whereof the world is made, namely, Water, Aire, and Fire, should haue no tast, no sauor, nor participation of any sap and liquor at all.
4.
a. = sap-wood n.
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the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [noun] > young wood or alburnum
sapc1374
body?1523
wood?1523
alburnum1664
whitewood1668
blea1736
softwood1751
sap-wood1791
alburn1864
included sapwood1933
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (1868) iii. pr. xi. 97 Þat thilke thing þat is ryht softe as the marye (i. sapp) is.
1483 Cath. Angl. 318/1 Þe Sappe of a tre, suber.
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. F3 The ioyner though an honest man, yet he maketh his ioynts weake, and putteth in sappe in the morteses which should be the hart of the tree.
1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 10 Deale of 30. foot long, the sap cut off.
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. ii. 57 The old black-rinded Trees..have less sap, and require but little pains to chip or cut it. The sap is white, and the heart red.
1737 E. Hoppus Salmon's Country Builder's Estimator (ed. 2) 22 To lay a Barn Floor with double Deals,..and to List off the Sap.
1864 Intellectual Observer IV. 74 The sandal cutters carefully remove the outer..portion of the wood, which they term the ‘sap’.
1898 H. R. Haggard Farmer's Year (1899) 121 I noticed that the wood was as hard as iron, and that there was..practically no ‘sap’, that is, soft outer wood, which is useless for most purposes.
b. U.S. slang. A club; a short staff. So saps (see quot. 1899).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 396 Saps, a clubbing with weapons made from saplings.
1915 N.Y. World Mag. 9 May 14/3 Sap or sapstick, a crutch, cane or club.
1926 J. Black You can't Win vii. 83 The town marshal would then appear with a posse armed with ‘saps’, which is short for saplings, young trees.
1932 J. Dos Passos 1919 436 He could hear the crack of saps on men's skulls.
1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely xxvi. 116 He had the sap out this time, a nice little tool about five inches long, covered with woven brown leather.
1955 W. Foster-Harris Look of Old West vii. 218 Its [sc. a quirt's] handle, or butt, would probably be loaded with an iron spike or with buckshot, thus giving you a handy sap when you needed one.
1974 D. Sears Lark in Clear Air iv. 49 His main staff of office was a lead sap that must have weighed two pounds.
5. The core (of unaltered iron) in the middle of a bar of blister steel.
ΚΠ
1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 411.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > green or greenness > [noun] > shade or tint of green > other greens
beech-greenc1450
frost on green1559
sap1572
apple green1648
sap-green1686
myrtle green1717
Brunswick green1790
pistachio1791
pistachio green1793
mountain green1794
lettuce green1834
copper-green1843
canard1872
myrtle1872
leaf-green1880
cress-green1883
cresson1883
watercress green1883
lizard-green1897
jade1921
apple1923
laurel1923
mango1930
laurel-green1938
lettuce1963
mint1967
the world > matter > colour > named colours > green or greenness > green colouring matter > [noun] > pigment or dye > other pigments
vert1481
verditer1505
green bice1548
sap1572
sap-green1578
terre-verte1658
verditer1665
ultramarine blue (or colour)1686
emerald1712
Prussian green1738
Saxon green1753
verditel1778
Brunswick green1790
mountain green1822
Vienna green1825
bladder-green1830
Verona green1835
mitis green1839
Paris green1847
Hooker's green1860
Guignet's green1862
emerald green1879
silk green1880
viridian1882
Cassel green1885
Milori green1885
Victoria green1890
Montpellier green1930
cadmium green1934
guaco1936
Monastral1936
1572 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 178 Sapp..Crymsen..white.
1573 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Queen Elizabeth (1908) 210 Sape .j. quarterne xx d.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
sap-boiling n.
sap-flow n.
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1935 C. Day Lewis Time to Dance & Other Poems 64 We remember them as the glowing fruit remembers Sap-flow and sunshine.
sap-monger n.
ΚΠ
1652 N. Culpeper Eng. Physitian Enlarged (1656) 383 Let such Sap-mongers answer me to this Argument, If the Sap fal into the Root in the fal of the Leaf, and lye there al the winter, then must the Root grow only in the winter.
sap-pressure n.
ΚΠ
1976 Sci. Amer. May 104/3 Hales measured the springtime sap pressure by placing open mercury manometers on a cut vine.
sap-trough n.
ΚΠ
1804 T. G. Fessenden Orig. Poems 46 Your love I well repaid By..a sap-trough neatly made.
1897 R. E. Robinson Uncle Lisha's Outing x. 84 These 'ere boots... They're stiffer'n sap troughs.
sap-vessel n.
ΚΠ
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra i. v. §22 The Liquor of the adjacent Sap-Vessels.
b.
sap-clear adj.
ΚΠ
1953 E. Sitwell Gardeners & Astronomers 31 The gardener plays upon his sap-clear flute.
sap-consuming adj.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) v. i. 314 Though now this grained face of mine be hid In sap-consuming Winters drizled snow. View more context for this quotation
sap-filled adj.
ΚΠ
1915 D. H. Lawrence Rainbow xiii. 383 Her own world of warm sun and growing, sap-filled life was turned into nothing.
sap-rife adj.
ΚΠ
1942 W. Faulkner Go down, Moses & Other Stories 326 Wet and saprife spring in their ordered immortal sequence.
sap-sucking adj.
ΚΠ
1884 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 485 Sphyropicus...Sap-sucking Woodpeckers.
C2. Also sap-green n., sap lath n., sap-wood n. † sap-pate n. Obsolete = sap-head n., sapskull n. † sap-time n. Obsolete the time of year when the sap circulates.† sap-wiser n. Obsolete an instrument for indicating the motion of the sap in plants.
Categories »
sap-ball n. a local name for certain fungi of the genus Polyporus, ‘the stems of which, after the juice has been squeezed out, are sometimes used by boys as their foundation for tennis-balls’ ( Treasury Bot. 1866).
Categories »
sap-beetle n. U.S. any beetle of the family Nitidulidæ (Cent. Dict.).
sap-colour n. (see quot. 1816).
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the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > types of
lac1558
purpurin1558
colourish1598
earth1598
watercolour1598
earth colour1658
encaustic1662
lake1684
virgin tint1706
mosaic gold1746
bronze1753
gold bronze1769
cake colour1784
musive gold1796
sap-colour1816
repaint1827
moist colour1842
bronze powder1846
wax-colour1854
wax pigment1854
bitumen1855
chrome garnet1876
zinc-dust1877
zinc-powder1881
terra nera1882
earth pigment1900
1816 S. Parkes Chem. Catech. (ed. 7) 532 Sap-colours, a name given to various expressed vegetable juices of a viscid nature, which are inspissated by slow evaporation for the use of painters, &c. Sap-green, gamboge, &c. are of this class.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > fool, simpleton > [noun]
boinarda1300
daffc1325
goky1377
nicea1393
unwiseman1400
totc1425
alphinc1440
dawc1500
hoddypeak1500
dawpatea1529
hoddypolla1529
noddy1534
kimec1535
coxcomb1542
sheep1542
sheep's head1542
goose1547
dawcock1556
nodgecock1566
peak-goosea1568
hottie tottie?c1570
Tom Towly1582
wittol1588
goose-cap1589
nodgecomb1592
ninny1593
chicken1600
fopdoodle16..
hoddy-noddy1600
hoddy-doddy1601
peagoose1606
fopster1607
nazold1607
nupson1607
wigeon1607
fondrel1613
simpleton1639
pigwidgeon1640
simpletonian1652
Tony1654
nizy1673
Simple Simon?1673
Tom Farthing1674
totty-head1680
cockcomb1684
cod1699
nikin1699
sap-pate1699
simpkin1699
mackninnya1706
gilly-gaupus?1719
noodle1720
sapskull1735
gobbin?1746
Judy1781
zanya1784
spoony1795
sap-head1798
spoon1799
gomerel1814
sap1815
neddy1818
milestone1819
sunket1823
sunketa1825
gawp1825
gawpy1825
gawpus1826
Tomnoddy1826
Sammy1828
tammie norie1828
Tommy1828
gom1834
noodlehead1835
nowmun1854
gum-sucker1855
flat-head1862
peggy1869
noodledum1883
jay1884
toot1888
peanut head1891
simp1903
sappyhead1922
Arkie1927
putz1928
steamer1932
jerk-off1939
drongo1942
galah1945
Charley1946
nong-nong1959
mouth-breather1979
twonk1981
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Sap-pate, a Fool.
sap pine n. [perversion of French sapin] U.S. the pitch-pine, Pinus rigida.
ΚΠ
1808 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) 56 A new species of pine, called the French Sap pine.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. at Pine Sap Pine, Pinus rigida.
sap-rot n. a disease of timber, dry-rot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with trees
heart rot1808
white rot1828
sap-rot1838
red rot1847
conk1851
soft rot1886
pine blister1889
silver-leaf1890
leaf shedding1891
pine rust1893
leaf cast1894
partridge-wood1894
larch blister1895
needle-cast1895
sooty mould1901
white pine blister rust1909
larch needle cast1921
coral-spot1923
ink disease1923
pocket rot1926
wood rot1926
Dutch elm disease1927
oak wilt1942
ash dieback1957
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 191/1 The sap-wood is the part in which the decomposing operations commence, and hence the propriety of the term sap-rot.
1918 J. W. Harshberger Text-bk. Mycol. & Plant Pathol. xxxv. 545 Sap-rot (Polystictus versicolor (L.), Fr.).—Polystictus versicolor is one of the most cosmopolitan species of fungi known... It grows on the sapwood of every species of deciduous tree known. It is the most serious of all the wood-rotting fungi, destroying probably 75 per cent. of the timber used for railroad ties.
1918 J. W. Harshberger Text-bk. Mycol. & Plant Pathol. xxxv. 558 Sap-rot (Daedalea quercina (L.) Pers).—One of the most important enemies of structural oak, produces a soft, mushy decay of the wood.
1971 Country Life 4 Nov. 1224/2 The chestnut for the frames is cleft..soon after cutting to prevent sap rot.
sap-stain n. discoloration of sap-wood, esp. a bluish discoloration by fungi.
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the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with trees > discolouration caused by
stain1731
spot1800
sap-stain1910
sap-staining1910
1910 Bot. Gaz. 50 147 Sap stain is in general produced in two ways, by the attacks of fungi and by chemical discoloration.
1953 F. T. Brooks Plant Dis. (ed. 2) xii. 199 Several species of Ceratostomella and allied genera, together with many Fungi Imperfecti, cause sap-stain or blueing of the sap-wood of soft and hard timber felled for lumber, and of pulp-wood... Affected wood is reduced in marketability as the stain is unsightly in timber used for certain purposes.
1976 B. K. Bakshi Forest Path iii. 281 The fungi causing soft rot, like those causing sap stain, belong to the Ascomycetes and Fungi Imperfecti.
sap-stained adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [adjective] > of or having abnormal mark or discolouration
fired1783
sap-stained1910
sap-staining1910
vein banding1928
1910 Bot. Gaz. 50 142 The examination of microscopic sections of this sap-stained lumber reveals the fact that the colored substance, produced by the chemical reaction, is most conspicuously developed in the wood rays and wood parenchyma cells.
sap-staining n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [adjective] > of or having abnormal mark or discolouration
fired1783
sap-stained1910
sap-staining1910
vein banding1928
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with trees > discolouration caused by
stain1731
spot1800
sap-stain1910
sap-staining1910
1910 Bot. Gaz. 50 142 Favorable conditions for sap-staining are found during warm weather.
1921 Phytopathology 11 214 As a sap-staining organism Lasiosphaeria pezizula has been previously reported by Humphrey.
1976 B. K. Bakshi Forest Path iii. 280 Sap staining fungi..do not cause any wood decay.
sap-sucker n. a name in North America for many of the smaller woodpeckers, esp. those of the genus Sphyropicus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > genus Sphyrapicus (sap-sucker)
sap-sucker1805
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > member of genus Picoides
witwall1668
pianet1706
hairy woodpecker1731
sap-sucker1805
ladder woodpecker1870
ladder-back woodpecker1884
1805 M. Lewis & W. Clark Jrnl. 8 Apr. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1987) IV. 93 The only birds that I observed..was the Missouri magpie..the raven..the small wood pecker or sapsucker as they are sometimes called.
1808 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. (1831) I. 167 This, and the two former species [i.e. Picus varius, P. villosus, and P. pubescens] are generally denominated sap-suckers.
1834 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. II. 81 The Downy Woodpecker..is best known in all parts of the United States by the name of Sap-sucker.
1872 194 Genus Sphyrapicus Baird... Of the several small species commonly called ‘sapsuckers’ they alone deserve the name.
1941 Sun (Baltimore) 25 Jan. 6/1 The cardinals have been flashing to and fro, and the flickers and sapsuckers and the tiny snowbirds.
1962 T. A. Imhof Alabama Birds 329 These far-ranging woodland birds are called Peckerwoods and Sapsuckers in the South.
1971 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 13 June 13/2 A sapsucker tapped out an accompaniment on his favorite tree.
sap-tree n. the mountain ash, Pyrus aucuparia; also the sycamore, Acer pseudo-platanus ( Eng. Dial. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > maples > [noun]
maple treeOE
maplec1385
plane tree1562
great maple1597
sycamore-tree1597
sycamore1598
sugar-tree1705
sugar maple1731
red maple1767
scarlet maple1768
rock maple1774
white maple1774
silk wood1775
moosewood1778
mountain maple1785
box elder1787
acer1793
sycamore maple1796
mock plane1797
Montpellier maple1797
water maple1803
soft maple1806
sugar-wood1809
swamp maple1810
low maple1813
maple bush1821
Neapolitan maple1833
snake-bark1838
moose-maple1839
sap-tree1843
Manitoba maple1887
Japanese maple1898
curly maple1909
Queensland maple1915
paperbark maple1927
Amur maple1934
1843 Knickerbocker 22 161 One felled the proper trees, taking care to leave the sap~trees, the sugar-maple, untouched.
sap-tube n. a vessel that conveys sap (Ogilvie, 1850).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > spring
LenteneOE
LentlOE
warea1300
verec1325
vera1382
vere-time1382
springing timea1387
springinga1398
springa1400
prime tempsa1425
the spring of the year1481
grass1485
springtime1495
prime time1503
sap-time?1523
spring tide1530
(the) spring of the leaf1538
prime1541
prime tide1549
voar1629
vernal season1644
vernal1654
outcome1672
Lent term1691
blossom-time1713
open water1759
rabi1783
budding-timea1807
ware-time1820
growing season1845
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xliii Beware that thou croppe him nat nor heed hym specially in sappe tyme.
sap-whistle n. dialect ‘a whistle made from the green twig of a tree, esp. mountain ash or sycamore’ ( Eng. Dial. Dict.); in quot. 1737 at sense 4a referred to proverbially.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > wind instrument > pipe > [noun] > whistle > other whistles
penny whistle1730
sap-whistle1740
Galton's whistle1904
Swanee whistle1926
pikipiki1933
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. vi. 123 If he would not be a Sap-whistle, he might be a Sling at any time.
1979 Bull. Yorks. Dial. Soc. Summer 7 Here's a sap whistle, lads er aw alike, Here's en aad knife, en a nut off a bike [in a boy's pocket].
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > botany > [noun] > botanical instruments > for indicating motion of sap
sap-wiser1671
1671 E. Tonge in Philos. Trans. 1670 (Royal Soc.) 5 2071 Sap-wiser.
sap-wort n. (see quot. 1844).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > aquatic, marsh, and sea-shore plants > [noun] > water-parsley or aquatic umbellifers
water parsley1562
marsh parsley1582
hemlock (water) dropwort1597
water parsnip1597
water lovage1633
five-fingered root1747
marshwort1776
fool's watercress1837
sap-wort1844
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 948 In damp situations, Œnanthe crocata, water sap-wort, grows.
C3. North American. With spec. reference to the sap of the sugar maple.
sap beer n.
ΚΠ
1950 H. Nearing & S. Nearing Maple Sugar Bk. ix. 202 The other maple product is sap beer.
sap-boiling n.
ΚΠ
1877 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 4) Addenda Sap-Boiling, the boiling of sap from maple-trees, for the purpose of making sugar is a great event among farmers who possess a sugar-bush or sugar-orchard... ‘The boys are all going to the sap-bilen next week.
sap bucket n.
ΚΠ
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. iii. 12 [Here were] frows, sap-buckets, a leach-tub.
1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 94 A maple sap bucket of coopered pine,..is shown... The wire loop, for suspending it on a nail below the sap incision in the tree, can be seen in the photograph.
1980 Blair & Ketchum's Country Jrnl. (Brattleboro, Vermont) Oct. 102/1 I've used mine [sc. a wooden packboard] to carry 200 sap buckets up the washed-out road to the sugar~house and to carry finished gallons of syrup back down.
sap-cider n.
ΚΠ
1845 J. F. Cooper Chainbearer II. v. 60 I don't think anything of bringing you..a little water,..nor should I had we any beer or sap-cider.
sap-gatherer n.
ΚΠ
1874 2nd Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1873–4 719 The ‘sap-gatherer’ or ‘draw~tub’, as it is called, is a hogshead containing from one hundred to one hundred and fifty gallons.
sap-house n.
ΚΠ
1917 D. F. Canfield Understood Betsy vii. 140 The sap-house, where Cousin Ann and Uncle Henry were making syrup.
1939 I. B. Wolcott Yankee Cook Bk. 338 Any one who..returns to the sap house.
sap-kettle n.
ΚΠ
1904 M. E. Waller Wood-carver ii. 51 [I] drew trees and sheep and loggers' camps on the flat stones beneath the crotch set for the sap-kettles.
1968 E. R. Buckler Ox Bells & Fireflies iv. 77 You thought..about the sap kettle in the cool green shadow, waiting to be emptied at noon.
sap pail n.
ΚΠ
1947 K. M. Wells Owl Pen (1950) vi. xvi. 94 John..followed him, hanging sap pails to the already dripping spouts.
sap pan n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > woods of specific colour or dye-woods
red sandalwood?c1510
redwooda1533
whitewood1562
red sanderswood1598
sapan wood1598
peach woodc1638
Campeachy wood1652
coral-wood1693
Nicaragua wood1696
cam-wood1699
Guinea wood1722
Nicaragua1756
barwood1788
ruby wood1843
sap pan1874
1874 2nd Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1873–4 729 Russia iron is the best material for home made sap pans as the niter can be removed from it more easily.
sap season n.
ΚΠ
1950 H. Nearing & S. Nearing Maple Sugar Bk. iii. 48 Much of the boiling was done far from home, and the sugar makers camped out in the deep woods until the sap season was over.
sap sled n.
ΚΠ
1950 H. Nearing & S. Nearing Maple Sugar Bk. v. 98 The loaded sap sled..moves down rather easily.
sap syrup n.
ΚΠ
1951 T. Capote Grass Harp i. 11 I could hear the tantalizing tremor of their voices flowing like sapsyrup through the old wood.
sap trough n.
ΚΠ
1840 P. H. Gosse Canad. Naturalist 11 The timber..is..made into sap-troughs for the sugary.
sap tub n.
ΚΠ
1872 1st Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1871–2 215 When I was a boy I purchased one hundred sap tubs, and commenced sugaring on my own hook.
Categories »
sap weather n.
sap works n.
ΚΠ
1832 J. J. Strang Diary 19 Feb. in M. M. Quaife Kingdom of St. James (1930) 202 I expect to dismiss my school soon and leave the place..for the people want their boys to work in the sap works.
1849 Knickerbocker 33 279 ‘The Sugar Bush’ has vividly recalled to memory..the pale blue smoke curling up from the ‘sap-works’.
sap yield n.
ΚΠ
1950 H. Nearing & S. Nearing Maple Sugar Bk. iv. 82 There is some evidence that length of trunk plays a part in sap yield.
C4.
sap-boiler n. a furnace with pans for evaporating the sap of the maple (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech.).
sap-bush n. a grove of sugar-maples.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > maples > [noun] > assemblage of
sugar-bush1823
sugar-orchard1848
sap orchard1861
sap-busha1882
a1882 T. Weed Autobiogr. (1883) I. ii. 12 I now look with great pleasure upon the days and nights passed in the sap-bush.
sap neckyoke n. = sap yoke n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by carrying > [noun] > by a person > yoke for carrying
yoke-stickeOE
yokea1630
neck yoke1688
bangy1789
shoulder sling1813
shoulder-yoke1862
sap yoke1878
sap neckyoke1905
1905 W. M. Webb in A. E. Cowles Past & Present City of Lansing & Ingham County, Michigan 441 One neighbor whittled out brooms... Another gauged the sap neckyokes and another made ox yokes.
sap orchard n. = sap-bush n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > maples > [noun] > assemblage of
sugar-bush1823
sugar-orchard1848
sap orchard1861
sap-busha1882
1861 Boston Herald 12 Apr. 2/6 Owners of sap orchards can afford to work day and night.
sap porridge n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > soup or pottage > porridges > [noun]
polentaOE
papelotec1400
pottagea1500
crowdy-mowdy?a1513
drowsen1519
pease porridge?1548
plum pottage1574
sowens1582
grout1587
orgementa1590
plum porridge1591
loblolly1597
pease pottage1600
girt-brew1620
washbrew1620
lentil-porridge1622
hominy1630
porridgea1643
samp1643
nettle-pottage1659
nettle-porridge1661
crowdie1668
suppawn1670
mush1671
rockahominy1674
stirabouta1691
praiseach1698
sagamité1698
brochan1700
atole1716
burgoo1750
purry1751
fungee1789
pepper porridge1803
kasha1808
mamaliga1808
skilligalee1819
bean-porridge1821
skilly1839
sap porridge1842
corn-mush1846
oatmeal mush1850
pap1858
ugali1860
oatmeal1873
mealie-meal1880
mealie-pap1880
uji1889
sadza1899
nsima1907
putu papa1910
posho1927
putu1949
ogi1957
whey-porridge-
1842 Amer. Pioneer 1 346 ‘Sap porridge’,..when made of sweet corn meal, and the fresh sacarine juice of the maple, afforded both a nourishing and a savory dish.
1948 E. N. Dick Dixie Frontier 290 Corn-meal mush was a regular supper dish. In the spring it was made with maple sap and was known as sap porridge.
sap run n. an increased flow of sap in a sugar-maple tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > maples > [noun] > flow of sap from
sap run1876
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [noun] > sugar-maple plantation > flow of sap in tree
sap run1876
1876 J. Burroughs Winter Sunshine 119 A ‘sap-run’ seldom lasts more than two or three days.
1950 H. Nearing & S. Nearing Maple Sugar Bk. ix. 202 Maple vinegar..is made of sap run at the end of the season.
sap spout n. a spout through which sap is drawn from a sugar-maple tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > spout for maple syrup
spile1844
sap spout1878
1878 5th Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1877–8 105 We now have the Eureka sap spout, the tin bucket, [etc.].
1949 Highway Traveler Feb. 16/2 A sap spout, or ‘spile’ as your boss may call it, is driven into the opening with a few taps of a hammer.
sap sugar n. = maple sugar n. at maple n.1 Compounds 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > maple sugar
maple sugar1722
sap sugar1800
short sweetening1850
1800 C. D. Rouso D'Eres Mem. 63 The squaws in particular, would make me many and valuable [presents]..consisting of sap sugar.
1895 S. O. Jewett Life of Nancy 105 [She] handed us sap sugar on one of her best plates.
sap tree n. the sugar maple, Acer saccharum.
sap weather n. the kind of weather that encourages the flow of sap in a sugar-maple tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > [noun] > kinds of weather > a spell of a kind of > specific
tide-weather1740
growing weather1794
sugar-weather1826
sap weather1950
1950 H. Nearing & S. Nearing Maple Sugar Bk. vi. 137 The 20-degree-night and the 45-degree-day, sunny-days and cold-night formula for sap weather is very far from telling the whole story.
sap yoke n. a yoke used for carrying sap pails.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by carrying > [noun] > by a person > yoke for carrying
yoke-stickeOE
yokea1630
neck yoke1688
bangy1789
shoulder sling1813
shoulder-yoke1862
sap yoke1878
sap neckyoke1905
1878 5th Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1877–8 105 The sap was lugged with sap yoke and pails on their shoulders.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† sapn.2
Obsolete.
Some kind of spade or mattock.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > spade > other spades
sap1566
didle1580
wasp-spade1623
trenching gouge1653
loy1763
hodding-spadea1825
graff1875
graft1893
1566 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories N. Counties Eng. (1835) I. 254 I giu to Richard walton my..stele sappe.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Zappa, a mattocke to dig and delue with, a sappe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
sapn.3
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ Military.
1. † c. ? transferred.
a. †The process of undermining a wall or defensive work (obsolete); the process of constructing covered trenches in order to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > [noun] > mine(s) > construction of
miningc1330
sap1591
undermining1598
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > [noun] > approach works > construction of
sap1710
1591 H. Unton Corr. (1847) 247 The King now resolveth to gaigne the fort by the zappe.
1591 H. Unton Corr. (1847) 248 Now we labor by sappe to win the fort.
1633 T. Stafford Pacata Hibernia iii. xii. 334 Untill such time as they might gaine it by Sapp or Myne.
1683 J. Turner Pallas Armata 316 This Sappe or Zappe is nothing else but a digging.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I Sappe, in Fortification, formerly signified the undermining, or deep digging, with Pick-axe and Shovel at the Foot of a Work to overthrow it without Gunpowder.
1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II Sap, in Fortification, is digging deep under the Earth,..to open a way to come under cover to the Passage of the Moat.
1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Sixth 2 Like powerful Armies trenching at a Town, By slow, and silent, but resistless Sap.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. July 328/1 The French advanced, by sap, quite up to the foot of our entrenchment.
1812 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) VIII. 527 We had made some progress by sap towards the crest of the glacis.
1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 368 The sap is a mode of carrying on the approaches at a siege, under cover.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Sap, that peculiar method by which a besieger's zig-zag approaches are continuously advanced in spite of the musketry of the defenders.
1875 C. Clery Minor Tactics xvii. 253 A solid redout..made it necessary to advance from house to house by sap.
b. figurative. Applied to stealthy or insidious methods of attacking or destroying something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > a harmful thing or person > thing > slow or stealthy
apostemec1380
cankera1475
cankerworm1580
cancer1597
sap1748
tapeworm1824
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > [noun] > with hostile intention
sap1748
undermine1898
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. vi. 59 Be my end what it may, I am obliged, by thy penetration, fair-one, to proceed by the sap.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. vii. 317 Exempt forever from the sap of age.
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. xxi. 59 A hock of pickled pork and a pound of sixpenny sugar, conveyed by way of sap to undermine the..virtue of one of our Newgate nuns.
1861 C. J. Ellicott in W. Thomson Aids to Faith ix. 396 It is simply an endeavour by slow sap to weaken the authority of some of the writers of the New Testament.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [noun] > through any medium or space > passing through a porous medium
sipec888
oozinga1398
siping1503
sying1530
filtering1576
filtration1602
percolation1613
transudation1617
filtrature1670
ooze1718
transuding1756
sap1794
seepage1825
sipage1825
percolating1861
soakage1867
bleeding1926
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 327 Water may rise..either by running channels or by sap or percolation.
2. A covered trench made for the purpose of approaching a besieged place under the fire of the garrison. flying sap: see flying sap at flying adj. 4d.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > [noun] > approach works > types of approach works
parallel1591
sap1642
demi-sap1706
zigzag1733
1642 H. Hexham Princ. Art Milit. (ed. 2) ii. 38 In the Interim a Sapp is begun, that runneth towards the Bulwark.
1672 J. Lacey tr. A. Tacquet Mil. Archit. xxi. 48 in T. Venn Mil. & Maritine Discipline ii You cut a strait Channel LH, commonly called a Sappe, thorough the out-brestwork, to the very ditch of the Fortification.
1687 J. Richards Jrnl. Siege Buda 34 The Duke of Lorrain order'd a large Sap to be made into the Ditch.
1702 Mil. Dict. at Attack The Works the Besiegers carry on, either Trenches, Galeries, Sappes, or Breaches to reduce a place.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. viii. 419 His soldiers..begun their Approaches by Saps.
1782 Encycl. Brit. IX. 6952/1 There are several sorts of saps; the single, which has only a single parapet; the double, having one on each side; and the flying, made with gabions, &c.
1812 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) IX. 39 200 men likewise of the covering party will rush from the right of the sap into the salient angle of the covered-way of the ravelin.
1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Reminisc. Great Mutiny 104 To protect this part of their route a flying sap was constructed.
Compounds
sap battery n. a battery at the head of a sap.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > battery
battery1555
counter-battery1603
swallow's nest1604
field battery1742
radeau1753
guns en barbette1772
half-moon battery1794
sap battery1810
sunken battery1817
screw battery1848
wool-battery1852
masked battery1861
mountain battery1868
machine-gun battery1882
1810 Naval Chron. 24 368 The Namur and Valiant took it day and day about to fight a sap battery.
sap-faggot n. a fascine used in sapping, to fill up the spaces between gabions.
ΚΠ
1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 222 The sap-faggot has a strong stake in the middle.
sap-fork n. (see quot. 1867).
ΚΠ
1867 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) III. 343/1 Sap fork, an instrument like a boat hook, used to push on a sap roller in sapping.
1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 75 According as the gabion has to be pulled towards the trench or pushed away from it, which must be done entirely with the sap-fork.
sap-head n. the foremost end of a sap.
ΚΠ
1878 Text Bk. Fortif. §332 The rate of progress of the sapheads, therefore, regulates the rate of progress of the siege.
sap-roller n. a large gabion covering the sap-head.
ΚΠ
1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 222 The head of the sap is covered by a sap-roller, viz. a large stuffed gabion.
sap-shield n. (see quot. 1876).
ΚΠ
1876 G. E. Voyle Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) Sap-shield, a steel plate mounted on wheels for the purpose of giving cover to the sapper in a single sap.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sapn.4
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ School slang.
1. One who studies hard or is absorbed in books.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > [noun] > diligent pupil or student
muzz1788
sap1798
sapper1825
swot1850
mug1880
mugger1883
mugster1888
groise1913
swotter1919
swotty1929
brain-box1942
mothball1944
geek1957
achiever1960
tug1976
poindexter1981
dexter1985
1798 C. Smith Young Philosopher I. 48 He obtained the character of a sullen, cold-blooded fellow, and a sap.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham I. ii. 11 When I once attempted to read Pope's poems, out of school hours, I was laughed at, and called a sap.
a1833 W. Wilberforce in R. I. Wilberforce & S. Wilberforce Life W. Wilberforce (1838) I. 11 The tutors [at Cambridge, c 1776] would often say..that ‘they were mere saps, but that I did all by talent’.
1862 Rep. Publ. Schools Comm. (1864) III. 284 (Eton) You do not consider a boy who is considered what is called a sap, is looked down upon by the rest?—No.
2. Study, book-work. Eton College slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > [noun] > diligent or hard study
studiousness1530
sapping1821
swot1850
grind1857
sapa1862
swotting1873
mugging1901
groise1913
a1862 Q. Hogg Let. in E. M. Hogg Quintin Hogg (1904) ii. 32 The night before last I..worked the whole night... I hope I shall take well after all my sap.
1901 Quiet Evening in Eton Echoes 13 Soon a drowsiness steals o'er you, and all thought of ‘sap’ is banished.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sapn.5
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ A simpleton, a fool.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > foolish person, fool > fool, simpleton > [noun]
boinarda1300
daffc1325
goky1377
nicea1393
unwiseman1400
totc1425
alphinc1440
dawc1500
hoddypeak1500
dawpatea1529
hoddypolla1529
noddy1534
kimec1535
coxcomb1542
sheep1542
sheep's head1542
goose1547
dawcock1556
nodgecock1566
peak-goosea1568
hottie tottie?c1570
Tom Towly1582
wittol1588
goose-cap1589
nodgecomb1592
ninny1593
chicken1600
fopdoodle16..
hoddy-noddy1600
hoddy-doddy1601
peagoose1606
fopster1607
nazold1607
nupson1607
wigeon1607
fondrel1613
simpleton1639
pigwidgeon1640
simpletonian1652
Tony1654
nizy1673
Simple Simon?1673
Tom Farthing1674
totty-head1680
cockcomb1684
cod1699
nikin1699
sap-pate1699
simpkin1699
mackninnya1706
gilly-gaupus?1719
noodle1720
sapskull1735
gobbin?1746
Judy1781
zanya1784
spoony1795
sap-head1798
spoon1799
gomerel1814
sap1815
neddy1818
milestone1819
sunket1823
sunketa1825
gawp1825
gawpy1825
gawpus1826
Tomnoddy1826
Sammy1828
tammie norie1828
Tommy1828
gom1834
noodlehead1835
nowmun1854
gum-sucker1855
flat-head1862
peggy1869
noodledum1883
jay1884
toot1888
peanut head1891
simp1903
sappyhead1922
Arkie1927
putz1928
steamer1932
jerk-off1939
drongo1942
galah1945
Charley1946
nong-nong1959
mouth-breather1979
twonk1981
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. ix. 170 They're sporting the door of the custom-house, and the auld sap at Hazlewood-House has ordered off the guard.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. i. 16 He maun be a saft sap, wi' a head nae better than a fozy frosted turnip.
1836 M. M. Sherwood Henry Milner iii. xi Do you think that we are such saps that we cannot say No?
1852 Meanderings of Mem. He crowned his head but with another cap Than Cardinal's—for that he wants no Sap.
1930 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 26 July 145/1 In some ways Angelo's a sap, but I never thought he'd get himself in a spot like that.
1940 P. G. Wodehouse Quick Service xix. 240 You were a sap to come away.
1945 ‘N. Shute’ Most Secret vii. 154 But when you come to think of it, I'd have been a sap.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren x. 181 The word ‘sap’..the children define as meaning a sissy or a softy (‘soft in that he does not do anything wrong’), and suggest other moist alternatives, as ‘milksop’, ‘soppy date’, a ‘wet’, or a ‘drip’.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 35/1 Bobby Mull.., is a sap if he accepts less than $100,000 from the tight-fisted..management.
1973 ‘H. Howard’ Highway to Murder vi. 72 My brother was a prize sap... Guess he knows better now.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sapv.1
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ 1.
a. intransitive. To dig a sap or covered trench; to approach a besieged place by means of a sap. Also to sap up, on.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > lay siege [verb (intransitive)] > dig approach trench or tunnel
sap1598
gallery1807
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Zappare, to digge, or delue, or grubbe the ground, to sap.
1642 H. Hexham Princ. Art Milit. (ed. 2) ii. 38 Then one begins to Sapp from H to I.
1642 H. Hexham Princ. Art Milit. (ed. 2) ii. 45 After you have sapt through the Counterscharfe.
1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediviva iv. vii. 252 They sapt up towards the castle.
1882 R. Temple Men & Events xx. 483 Where the Muhammadan besiegers erected batteries, sapped, undermined, stormed.
b. figurative. To make way in a stealthy or insidious manner. Also transitive in to sap one's way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move forward or advance [verb (intransitive)] > sinuously or subtly
sap1733
winkle1942
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > be stealthy [verb (intransitive)] > intrude stealthily
creepc1380
steala1586
screw1614
worm1627
sap1733
weasel1963
1733 A. Pope Of Use of Riches 3 In vain may Heroes fight, and Patriots rave, If secret Gold saps on from knave to knave.
1839 W. S. Landor Andrea of Hungary & Giovanna of Naples in Wks. (1846) II. 540 Lies, while they sap their way and hold their tongues, Are safe enough.
2.
a. transitive. To dig under the foundations of (a wall, etc.). Also transferred of natural agencies, etc.: To undermine; to render insecure by removing the foundations.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > action or state of siege or blockade > besiege or blockade [verb (transitive)] > undermine
undermyec1330
underminea1382
sap1652
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break down, demolish, or ruin > undermine or cause collapse
minec1422
sap1652
1652 C. B. Stapylton tr. Herodian Imperiall Hist. x. 79 But see the chance, from off the Mountaines rapt A sudden flood, which strong Foundation sapt.
1689 London Gaz. No. 2482/1 We have begun to sappe the Glacis.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Metamorphoses i, in Examen Poeticum 26 Sap'd by Floods, Their Houses fell.
1695 R. Blackmore Prince Arthur iii. 66 Sinking Isles, Sap'd by the Flame..Fall down with mighty Cracks.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) To sap, a Term in War, to dig under the Foundations of a Wall to throw it down and destroy it. To dig under the Glacis, in order to pass the Moat securely.
1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. xii. 25 The Weight of Waters saps the yielding Wall.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 18/1 Drains..shou'd..not do any harm to the House, either by sapping of dirtying it.
1816 Ld. Byron Siege of Corinth xxiv. 39 Huge fragments, sapped by the ceaseless flow.
1838 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Ferdinand & Isabella II. i. xiii. 30 Galleries were also wrought,..to sap the foundations of the walls.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xxi. 209 A crazy building, sapped and undermined by the rats.
1867 F. Parkman Jesuits in N. Amer. xviii. 263 The flood still rose,..and threatened to sap the magazine.
b. figurative with reference to a metaphorical wall, foundation, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > cause or effect (harm) [verb (transitive)] > do harm or injury to > gradually or secretly
undergoc1000
minec1422
undercreepa1440
cankera1450
undermine1565
cankerfret1585
sap1711
honeycomb1821
white-ant1905
submarine1917
sabotage1918
undercut1955
monkeywrench1986
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 163. ¶5 A Heart in Love has its Foundations sapped.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 111. ⁋2 To sap the difficulties which it expected to subdue by storm.
1761 C. Churchill Night 4 How damps and vapours..sap the walls of health.
1835 I. Taylor Spiritual Despotism i. 13 He takes his stand..upon advanced ground which is already sapped.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. viii. 544 There was..not one who did not..sap the foundation of some old opinion.
c. To approach (a fortress) or to pierce (ground) with saps.In some recent dictionaries.
d. To erode by glacial sapping (sapping n.1 2b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > glaciation > [verb (transitive)] > specific processes
score1862
quarry1874
pluck1893
sap1910
1910 Geogr. Jrnl. 35 269 Lack of glacial scratches or polish in uplands sapped by this process should not be allowed to weigh too heavily in reconstructing the glacial history of the district.
1940 Geogr. Rev. 30 81 Whether these glaciers, when at their maximum thickness, were able to sap vigorously the very bottom of the head walls..is a little doubtful.
3. figurative.
a. To weaken or destroy insidiously (esp. health, strength, courage, or the like).Probably often coloured by association with sap n.1, as if the primary notion were ‘to drain the vital sap from’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > cause to be ill [verb (transitive)] > make weak
fellOE
wastec1230
faintc1386
endull1395
resolvea1398
afaintc1400
defeat?c1400
dissolvec1400
weakc1400
craze1476
feeblish1477
debilite1483
overfeeble1495
plucka1529
to bring low1530
debilitate1541
acraze1549
decaya1554
infirma1555
weaken1569
effeeble1571
enervate1572
enfeeble1576
slay1578
to pull downa1586
prosternate1593
shake1594
to lay along1598
unsinew1598
languefy1607
enerve1613
pulla1616
dispirit1647
imbecilitate1647
unstring1700
to run down1733
sap1755
reduce1767
prostrate1780
shatter1785
undermine1812
imbecile1829
disinvigorate1844
devitalize1849
wreck1850
atrophy1865
crumple1892
1755 Connoisseur No. 82 (1774) III. 83 A Drunkard; one that takes an unaccountable pleasure in sapping his constitution.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 393 Till sapped their strength, and every part unsound, Down, down they sink.
1836 J. H. Newman et al. Lyra Apost. 90 But sloth had sapped the prophet's strength.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam civ. 162 Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more. View more context for this quotation
1858 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire VI. liv. 238 The spirit of inquiry..was sapping the positive beliefs of the day.
1877 E. Dowden Shakspere (Macmillan Lit. Primers) vi. 117 His moral energy is sapped by a kind of scepticism.
b. ? To drain of something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > leave unoccupied [verb (transitive)] > empty > empty or exhaust > specifically of immaterial things
sap1893
1893 K. D. Wiggin Cathedral Courtship 68 He sapped me of all my ideas, and gave me none in exchange.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sapv.2
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ Obsolete.
1. transitive. To remove the sap from (wood).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > season or preserve
beek1483
beath1496
season1545
sap1725
kyanize1843
creosote1846
Paynize1850
Burnettize1867
Powellize1913
air-season1917
pressure-treat1922
recondition1931
seal1940
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Poplar The Wood is useful for the Engraver, and being saw'd into Boards and sapt dry, continues a long while.
2. To remove the sap-wood from (a log).
ΚΠ
1875 [implied in: E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Sapping-machine, a circular saw for slabbing balks and sawing bolts for shingle stuff. (at sapping n.3)].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sapv.3
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ School slang.
intransitive. To pore over books; to be studious.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > [verb (intransitive)] > study diligently or hard
porec1387
muzz?1744
sap1830
bone1832
to study up1846
mug1848
grind1855
swot1860
stew1866
swank1890
groise1913
1830 H. Angelo Reminisc. II. 371 Preferring a continental visit to sap-ing..three years at college for a fellowship.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel I. i. xii. 80 They say he is the cleverest boy in the school. But then he saps.
a1884 M. Pattison Mem. (1885) 21 It was unworthy of a man of his position to ‘sap’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sapv.4
/sap/, U.S. /sæp/ U.S. slang.
transitive. To hit or club (someone) with a sap (see sap n.1 4b). Also with up and intransitive in to sap up on (someone).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of striking with specific blunt weapon > strike with specific blunt weapon [verb (transitive)]
mellc1440
wapper1481
bebat1565
rib-roast1570
batonc1580
flail1582
club1593
bastonate1596
cudgel1598
rib-baste1598
shrub1599
truncheon1600
cut1607
scutch1611
macea1634
batoon1683
towel1705
quarterstaff1709
pole1728
handspike1836
blackjack1847
bludgeon1868
sandbag1887
cosh1922
sap1926
pistol-whip1930
knuckle-dust1962
1926 J. Black You can't Win vii. 83 The posse fell upon the convention and ‘sapped up’ on those therein assembled and ran them..out of town.
1926 Clues Nov. 162/1 Sapped, beaten up.
1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 213 To get sapped means to be clubbed by the bulls.
1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 101/1 Sapped, struck with a club or billy by a police officer.
1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely xxxviii. 178 He slumped sideways and clawed at a corner of the desk, then rolled on his back. It was nice to see someone else get sapped for a change.
1971 Black World Apr. 65 My eye was swole... I remember how you sapped me up somethin awful.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1982; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> as lemmas
S.A.P.
S.A.P. n. (also Sap) South African Party.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > African politics > [noun] > South African politics > specific parties
remskoen party1898
S.A.P.1920
African National Congress1923
OB1940
Ossewa Brandwag1940
U.P.1943
ANC1952
1920 S. Black Dorp 9 The scornful word ‘Sappers’, which he knew to be a term of contempt applied by members of Hertzog's Party (the Nationalists) to all those of the Botha-Smuts element or ‘SAP’.
1933 J. C. Smuts Let. 7 Oct. in Sel. Smuts Papers (1973) V. 567 It may be a case of Sap predominance, with a Nat prime minister with a small following of his own.
1935 Ann. Reg. 1934 i. 132 Around him rallied those S.A.P. men who vowed with him that a surrender of principles was too heavy a price to pay.
1972 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 3 Sept. 2 Nats, Progs, Saps all climb in to make mischief.
1977 Jrnl. Commonwealth & Compar. Politics 15 7 The networks of rural and provincial notables originally fused together by the South African Party (SAP) gave it majorities in the Cape, Transvaal, and Orange Free State.
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n.1OE
n.21566
n.31591
n.41798n.51815v.11598v.21725v.31830v.41926as lemmas