mass noun
1- the fluid, chiefly water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts, which circulates in the vascular system of a plant（植物的）汁, 液。
1.1
- figurative vigour or energy, especially sexual vitality〈喻〉元气, 活力（尤指性活力）：
the hot, heady days of youth when the sap was rising.
朝气蓬勃、年轻气盛的日子。
(sapped, sapping)with obj.
1- gradually weaken or destroy (a person's strength or power)逐渐削弱（力量, 权力）; 破坏; 消耗, 使伤元气：
our energy is being sapped by bureaucrats and politicians.
我们的精力正在被官僚主义者和政客逐渐消耗掉。
1.1
sap someone of
drain someone of (strength or power)消耗某人的（力量）; 使逐渐丧失（权力）：her illness had sapped her of energy and life.
疾病耗尽了她的精力和活力。
派生词
sapless
adjective词源
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 SAP2, in the sense 'undermine'.
- historical a tunnel or trench to conceal an assailant's approach to a fortified place〈史〉（用以偷袭设防场所的）坑道, 地道。
(sapped, sapping)no obj.
1- historical dig a sap or saps〈史〉挖坑道。
1.1
- with obj. archaic make insecure by removing the foundations of〈古〉破坏…的基础, 侵蚀…的基础：
a crazy building, sapped and undermined by the rats.
一幢遭到老鼠挖洞破坏的摇摇欲坠的房子。
1.2
- with obj. [often as noun sapping] Geography undercut by water or glacial action【地理】（水或冰川作用）逐渐侵蚀。
词源
late 16th cent. （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'.