sap

noun

/sæp/

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[uncountable] the liquid in a plant or tree that carries food to all its parts（植物体内运送养分的）液，汁
- Maple syrup is made from sap extracted from the sugar maple tree.槭糖浆是用糖槭树中提取的树液制成的。
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笨蛋；易上当的人
- The poor sap never knew what was going on behind his back.这个可怜的笨蛋从来不知道他背后发生了什么。
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使虚弱；削弱；逐渐破坏
- sap something The hot sun sapped our energy.火辣辣的太阳烤得我们虚软无力。
- The fever slowly sapped her strength.发烧慢慢消耗了她的体力。
- sap somebody (of something) Years of failure have sapped him of his confidence.连年失败使他逐渐丧失了自信。
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’.