from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sap \Sap\, n. [AS. saep; akin to OHG. saf, G. saft, Icel. safi;
of uncertain origin; possibly akin to L. sapere to taste, to
be wise, sapa must or new wine boiled thick. Cf. {Sapid},
{Sapient}.]
1. The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending
and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to
nutrition.
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Note: The ascending is the crude sap, the assimilation of
which takes place in the leaves, when it becomes the
elaborated sap suited to the growth of the plant.
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2. The sapwood, or alburnum, of a tree.
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3. A simpleton; a saphead; a milksop. [Slang]
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{Sap ball} (Bot.), any large fungus of the genus Polyporus.
See {Polyporus}.
{Sap green}, a dull light green pigment prepared from the
juice of the ripe berries of the {Rhamnus catharticus}, or
buckthorn. It is used especially by water-color artists.
{Sap rot}, the dry rot. See under {Dry}.
{Sap sucker} (Zool.), any one of several species of small
American woodpeckers of the genus {Sphyrapicus},
especially the yellow-bellied woodpecker ({Sphyrapicus
varius}) of the Eastern United States. They are so named
because they puncture the bark of trees and feed upon the
sap. The name is loosely applied to other woodpeckers.
{Sap tube} (Bot.), a vessel that conveys sap.
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