sap (1), sappe

[A.S.sæp; cogn. with O. Dut. sap; O. H. Ger. saf; Ger. saft; Gr. opos =juice, sap; Icel. saft; Sw.saft, saf; Dan. saft, säve.] sap. 1. Bot . The watery juice contained in living plants. It is derived from the soil, and enters the plant in a state of solution. As crude sap ascending to the leaves, it is transformed into elaborated Descending again, this time through the bark and more or le circuitously, it forms the cambium whence young wood is formed. The sap ascends with great rapidity in a zigzag course, sending off lateral currents to the leaves. The most copious ascent is in spring; in winter the operation intermits. The sap increases in density as it rises. "But the sap that made them shoot, and makes them flourish, rises from the root through the trunk."- Boling broke: Letter to Pope. 3548 2. The alburnum of a tree. [ALBURNUM.] "Some fell the trees one chips off the sap , and he is commonly a principal man."-Dampier: Voyages (an. 1676). 3. The juice or fluid in any substance, the presence of which is characteristic of health, freshne , or vigor; blood. "Did drain the purple sap from her sweet brother's body."- Shakesp .: Richard III ., iv. 4. sap-ball, s. Bot.: The species of Polyp or us which grow on trees, especially P. squamosus , found on decaying ash. When dried it is sometimes used for razor strops.