sap

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Plants

sap1 /sæp/ noun  1. [uncountable]HBP the watery substance that carries food through a plant 〔植物的〕液，汁2. [countable] informalSTUPID/NOT INTELLIGENT a stupid person who is easy to deceive or treat badly 傻瓜，容易上当的人

Examples from the Corpus

sap• Freezing is further inhibited when the cell sap is divided into several vacuoles rather than a single large one.• There are distinct forms, each with its own beautiful shade of brilliant emerald, sap, and yellowish green.• The country was young, like the century, and full of sap.• He is hardly a sentimental sap who is prone to vicarious patriotism.• In winter it grew dark and fed on the sap in trees, or the blood of animals.• By this stage the sap in the vine will have withdrawn into the roots.• Prune all the stems back to within about 4in of the ground in mid to late March when the sap is rising.sap2 verb (sapped, sapping) [transitive]  WEAKto make something weaker or destroy it, especially someone’s strength or their determination to do something 〔逐渐〕削弱，消耗〔尤指力量或决心〕 SYN weakensap somebody’s strength/courage/energy Her long illness was gradually sapping Charlotte’s strength. 长期生病正逐渐消耗着夏洛特的元气。→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

sap• Their energy and physique had been sapped by interbreeding.• That, in turn, has started to sap enthusiasm throughout the high-technology sector.• It makes you sick, it saps every bit of strength you got.• The effort began to sap his strength and his muscles quivered as at last he pulled himself over the icy edge.• A brief electrical outage had sapped its power.• It sapped my strength and made sweat trickle into my eyes.• It was full of long baseline rallies that sap the concentration and the patience.Origin sap1 Old English sæp

sap1 nounsap2 verbChinese  

through watery that carries Corpus the food substance

sap

I

sap¹ /sæp/ noun1. [uncountable] the watery substance that carries food through a plant
2. [countable] informal a stupid person who is easy to deceive or treat badly

II

sap² verb (past tense and past participle sapped, present participle sapping) [transitive]
to make something weaker or destroy it, especially someone’s strength or their determination to do something
   SYN  weaken
    sap sb’s strength/courage/energy
    Her long illness was gradually sapping Charlotte’s strength.