to sap
14
5.6
- verb
- /sæp/
:
minar
- Or has work sapped all your energy?
- sapped his strength
- sapped their energy
- sapped of its force
There are less sanity sapping forms of investment.
- There are less sanity sapping forms of investment.
- What sorts of conditions really SAP or drain their willpower and tenacity?
- Choosing to live with nuclear weapons is unacceptable because it saps our courage.
- And I found that it sapped any sort of creative drive that I had in me.
- On the other hand, pain which he feels he is inflicting upon himself will be more likely to SAP his resistance.
- These relationships do SAP you and most tragically, pull you away from your naturally gregarious and warm self.
- But trust me, when you're not hoovered, then you're not wasting and sapping your bandwidth and wasting your time when it happens.
- So if our domestic industries feel sapped by China's piracy of our intellectual property, they certainly don't show it in the in their actions.
Examples
-
But most importantly, it saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources.
-
Travel through the deep snow had sapped his strength, and cold had worked into his very bones.
Fiction book (1992) -
But I will not sap the strength of sixty men to save two.
-
And I found that it sapped any sort of creative drive that I had in me.
-
Few things can sap the spirit faster than seasickness.
-
It saps what little strength they have.
-
Lack of time saps the will and turns the daily round into a grind.
Academic text (1999) -
Another trend that has sapped Congress' influence is the decline of congressional expertise on foreign policy and national security.
Academic text (2018) -
Being bedridden had sapped my strength, and fifty yards winded me.
Fiction book (1998) -
The long meeting sapped my energy, leaving me feeling exhausted.
Synonyms
305
2.8
To make people and things less strong or effective
68
3.7
To use up all of a supply or resource
27
4.1
Slowly make a person or thing weaker by repeated pressure
23
1.0
To become very tired or make someone very tired
15
3.2
To use up batteries, money or supplies until little remains
10
8.8
To make something weaker or less effective
1
9.9
To make people or forces fewer and weaker by slow, steady pressure
1
9.8
Make someone or something lose energy and stop working well
1
9.9
To make something weak by taking away what it needs
To slowly take away energy and interest from people
Antonyms
Idioms
How Draining
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sap — The verb sap meaning to weaken someone comes from the plant sap ('juice'); to 'sap' a person's strength is like slowly draining their 'juice', so the word now means to make someone weak or tired.