What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Sap vs Zap - What's the difference?

sap | zap |

As nouns the difference between sap and zap

is that sap is the juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition while zap is a sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.

As verbs the difference between sap and zap

is that sap is to strike with a sap (with a blackjack) while zap is to make a zapping sound.

As an initialism SAP

is initialism of Scientific Advisory Panel|lang=en.

As an interjection zap is

representing the sound or action of a zap.

sap

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) sap, from (etyl) ), from *''sap 'to taste'. More at sage.

Noun

(wikipedia sap)
  • (uncountable) The juice of plants of any kind, especially the ascending and descending juices or circulating fluid essential to nutrition.
  • (uncountable) The sap-wood, or alburnum, of a tree.
  • (slang, countable) A simpleton; a saphead; a milksop; a naive person.
    • Derived terms
    (terms derived from sap) * crude sap * elaborated sap * sap ball * sap green * saphead * sapling * sap poison * sap rot * sapsucker * sap tube

    Etymology 2

    Probably from sapling.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable, US, slang) A short wooden club; a leather-covered hand weapon; a blackjack.
    • (rfimage)

    Verb

    (sapp)
  • (slang) To strike with a sap (with a blackjack).

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) saper (compare Spanish zapar and Italian zappare) from .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (military) A narrow ditch or trench made from the foremost parallel toward the glacis or covert way of a besieged place by digging under cover of gabions, etc.
    • Derived terms
    * sap fagot * sap roller * sapper

    Verb

    (sapp)
  • To subvert by digging or wearing away; to mine; to undermine; to destroy the foundation of.
  • * (rfdate)
    • Nor safe their dwellings were, for sapped by floods, / Their houses fell upon their household gods.
  • (military) To pierce with saps.
  • To make unstable or infirm; to unsettle; to weaken.
  • * 1850 ,
    • Ring out the grief that saps the mind
  • To gradually weaken.
  • * to sap one’s conscience
  • To proceed by mining, or by secretly undermining; to execute saps — 12
  • * (rfdate)
    • Both assaults carried on by sapping .

    Anagrams

    * * * * * ----

    zap

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (colloquial) A sound made by a sudden release of electricity or some similar energy.
  • (colloquial) An electrical shock.
    • You might feel a little zap touching a metal doorknob when the air is dry.

    Verb

    (zapp)
  • To make a zapping sound.
  • To use a remote control to repeatedly change channels on a television.
  • To strike (something or someone) with electricity or energy, as by shooting.
    • They spent the whole movie zapping bad guys into oblivion.
  • To damage (especially electronics) with electrostatic discharge.
    • I think they zapped the processor.
  • To heat (something) in a microwave oven.
    • If it's not warm in the middle, zap it some more.
  • To delete or discard (electronic media).
    • They zapped a lot of files before realizing they had not backed up lately.
  • To further energize or charge (magnetic material).
    • They zapped my motor's magnets.

    Descendants

    * Catalan: * Dutch: (l) * Galician: (l), (l) * German: (l) * French: (l), (l) * Spanish: (l), (l) * Sweddish: (l)

    Interjection

    (en-interj)!
  • Representing the sound or action of a zap.
    • Then the computer went zap and I lost all my work.