sap
Maple syrup base
Sap is the fluid that circulates through plants, carrying water and nutrients—maple sap becomes syrup.
By extension, sap refers to vitality or energy: The heat sapped my strength.
To sap is to gradually drain or undermine: Constant criticism sapped her confidence.
A sap is also a fool or dupe, someone easily taken advantage of: Don't be a sap.
Separately, a sap is a small leather-covered club filled with lead, used to strike someone, and to sap means to hit with one. (All-caps SAP is the software company.)
Plant water conduit
- phloemPlant sugar-transport tissue
- resinViscous plant secretion
- latexMilky plant-derived polymer
- syrupThick sugar liquid
nectar · exudate · turgor · osmosis · vascular · transpiration · capillary · nutrients
Reduce in strength
- erodeDiminish through persistent friction
- drainChannel for wastewater
- exhaustUse up entirely
- depleteGreatly reduce supply
diminish · undercut · debilitate · enervate · enfeeble · wear down · hollow out · subvert
Essential animating element
Coating with sweetener
- sugarhouseMaple syrup production facility
- evaporatorLiquid-to-gas conversion device
- spilePlug or tap
- bucketOpen-top carrying vessel
boiling · syrup · tapping · sugarbush · pancakes · Vermont · Quebec · spring
Easily fooled person
simpleton · mark · gull · stooge · easy target · naive · gullible · soft touch
Enclosed underground route
- mineOre excavation site
- undermineWeaken by stealth
- siegeEncirclement forcing surrender
- excavationAct of unearthing
fortification · approach · military · warfare · earthwork · entrenchment · parallel · zigzag
xylem
Plant water conduit
syrup · nectar · exudate · turgor · osmosis · vascular · transpiration · capillary · nutrients · minerals
weaken
Reduce in strength
deplete · diminish · undercut · debilitate · enervate · enfeeble · wear down · hollow out · subvert · compromise
lifeblood
Essential animating element
sugaring
Coating with sweetener
- sugarhouseMaple syrup production facility
- evaporatorLiquid-to-gas conversion device
- spilePlug or tap
bucket · boiling · syrup · tapping · sugarbush · pancakes · Vermont · Quebec · spring · sweetener
sucker
Easily fooled person
pushover · simpleton · mark · gull · stooge · easy target · naive · gullible · soft touch · fall guy
tunnel
Enclosed underground route
excavation · fortification · approach · military · warfare · earthwork · entrenchment · parallel · zigzag · assault
blackjack
Card game to twenty-one
strike · blow · stun · knockout · leather · weighted · concealed · hit · thug · assault
- Short Wordsact, a, add, I, bat
- tree partstrunk, branches, branch, bark, root
- Wild Foodswild berries, wild mushrooms, wild greens, wild honey, wild strawberries
- botanybotany, plants, plant biology, plant, plant anatomy
- conifer partsneedle, needles, cone, pine cone, pinecone
- plant traitsthorny, spiny, evergreen, deciduous, flowering
sapstrengthen
Make more robust
invigorate · energize · fortify · revitalize · rejuvenate
sappy, sapling, sapped, sapient, saps, saplings, sapping, sapience, sappiness