Search Result for "sapping": 

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sap \Sap\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sapped; p. pr. & vb. n. Sapping.] [F. saper (cf. Sp. zapar, It. zapare), fr. sape a sort of scythe, LL. sappa a sort of mattock.] 1. To subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine; to undermine; to destroy the foundation of. [1913 Webster] Nor safe their dwellings were, for sapped by floods, Their houses fell upon their household gods. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. (Mil.) To pierce with saps. [1913 Webster] 3. To make unstable or infirm; to unsettle; to weaken. [1913 Webster] Ring out the grief that saps the mind. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]