Meaning of "sapping" in the English dictionary

PRONUNCIATION OF SAPPING

sapping  [ˈsæpɪŋ]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SAPPING

Sapping is a verb.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb sapping in English.

WHAT DOES SAPPING MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Sapping

Sapping is a term used in siege operations. Any trench excavated under defensive musket or artillery fire that was intended to advance a besieging army's position in relation to the works of an attacked fortification was referred to as a sap. Saps of approach were excavated by brigades of trained soldiers, often called sappers, because they dug the saps, or specifically instructed troops of the line. By using the sap a the besiegers could move closer to the walls of a fortress, without exposing the sappers to direct fire from the defending force. To protect the sappers, trenches were usually dug at an angle in zig-zagged pattern and at the head of the sap a defensive shield made of gabions could be deployed. Once the saps were close enough, siege engines or cannons could be deployed to batter a breach in the curtain walls. Prior to the invention of large pieces of siege artillery, miners could start to tunnel from at the head of a sap to undermine the walls. A fire or gunpowder would then be used to create a crater into which a section of the fortifications would fall creating a breach.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO SAPPING

PRESENT

Present

I sap

you sap

he/she/it saps

we sap

you sap

they sap

Present continuous

I am sapping

you are sapping

he/she/it is sapping

we are sapping

you are sapping

they are sapping

Present perfect

I have sapped

you have sapped

he/she/it has sapped

we have sapped

you have sapped

they have sapped

Present perfect continuous

I have been sapping

you have been sapping

he/she/it has been sapping

we have been sapping

you have been sapping

they have been sapping

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I sapped

you sapped

he/she/it sapped

we sapped

you sapped

they sapped

Past continuous

I was sapping

you were sapping

he/she/it was sapping

we were sapping

you were sapping

they were sapping

Past perfect

I had sapped

you had sapped

he/she/it had sapped

we had sapped

you had sapped

they had sapped

Past perfect continuous

I had been sapping

you had been sapping

he/she/it had been sapping

we had been sapping

you had been sapping

they had been sapping

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will sap

you will sap

he/she/it will sap

we will sap

you will sap

they will sap

Future continuous

I will be sapping

you will be sapping

he/she/it will be sapping

we will be sapping

you will be sapping

they will be sapping

Future perfect

I will have sapped

you will have sapped

he/she/it will have sapped

we will have sapped

you will have sapped

they will have sapped

Future perfect continuous

I will have been sapping

you will have been sapping

he/she/it will have been sapping

we will have been sapping

you will have been sapping

they will have been sapping

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would sapping

you would sapping

he/she/it would sapping

we would sapping

you would sapping

they would sapping

Conditional continuous

I would be sapping

you would be sapping

he/she/it would be sapping

we would be sapping

you would be sapping

they would be sapping

Conditional perfect

I would have sapping

you would have sapping

he/she/it would have sapping

we would have sapping

you would have sapping

they would have sapping

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been sapping

you would have been sapping

he/she/it would have been sapping

we would have been sapping

you would have been sapping

they would have been sapping

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you sap
we let´s sap
you sap

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to sap

Past participle

sapped

Present Participle

sapping

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «SAPPING»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «sapping» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of sapping

bleed · deplete · devitalize · drain · enervate · erode · exhaust · rob · undermine · weaken · wear down

TRANSLATION OF SAPPING

Find out the translation of sapping to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of sapping from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «sapping» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 削弱
• Translator English - Spanish: minando
• English: sapping
• Translator English - Hindi: sapping
• Translator English - Arabic: تضعف
• Translator English - Russian: подрывает
• Translator English - Portuguese: minando
• Translator English - Bengali: sapping
• Translator English - French: sapant
• Translator English - Malay: Sapping
• Translator English - German: zehrende
• Translator English - Japanese: 掘り崩し
• Translator English - Korean: 약화
• Translator English - Javanese: Sapping
• Translator English - Vietnamese: hủy hoại lòng
• Translator English - Tamil: sapping
• Translator English - Marathi: साबण
• Translator English - Turkish: sapping
• Translator English - Italian: fiaccando
• Translator English - Polish: sapping
• Translator English - Ukrainian: підриває
• Translator English - Romanian: paraziteze
• Translator English - Greek: sapping
• Translator English - Afrikaans: tap
• Translator English - Swedish: påfrestande
• Translator English - Norwegian: uttapping

QUOTES WITH «SAPPING»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word sapping.

1

Conrad Burns

Lawsuits - and frivolous lawsuits - are just sapping the life out of the people who perform the services and deliver the goods for the rest of the citizenry in the State of Montana.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SAPPING»

Discover the use of sapping in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to sapping and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Sapping: Webster's Quotations, Facts and Phrases

Familiar Quotations SandwichingMaybe there is no actual place called hell.

‎2008

Groundwater Geomorphology: The Role of Subsurface Water in ...

CASE STUDY: MODEL STUDIES OF GROUNDWATER SAPPING Alan D. Howard Introduction This case study focuses on experimental development of three-dimensional valley networks by seepage erosion and sapping processes, and on ...

Charles G. Higgins, Donald Robert Coates, 1990

Geomorphology of Desert Environments

General discussions of groundwater sapping and its landforms have been provided in Higgins (1984), Howard et al. (1988), Baker et al. (1990), and Higgins and Osterkamp (1990). Laity and Malin (1985, p. 203) defined sapping as 'the ...

Anthony J. Parsons, Athol D. Abrahams, 2009

Deserts and Desert Environments

In the subsurface, soil water and groundwater can erode either by flowing through and emerging from a matrix (seepage erosion associated with sapping) or by flowing along conduits (tunnel scour associated with piping). A continuum of ...

Julie J Laity, 2009

Mars: Maps

Ground-water Sapping. Sapping valleys are formed by the undermining of rock and sediment by ground-water outflow. In the model of sapping valley network formation proposed by Dunne (1980), subsurface water emerging from valley sides ...

Hugh H. Kieffer, 1992

Canyons

Different types of sapping exist, however, and sapping can produce different effects on different layering patterns of rocks. On Earth, the effects of sapping can be difficult to predict or generalize to different canyons. Sapping is thought to have ...

Erik A. Hanson, 2007

Arid Land Geom: Geom Crit Conc

Terrestrial sapping occurs in many permeable materials of different material strengths and scales of relief. Small, sapped networks occur in fine-grained, poorly consolidated materials, but canyon development requires materials with greater ...

David Evans, 2013

The Brusilov Offensive

69 During 18–19 May, Corps Szurmay in the Austrian Fourth Army relayed reports from Russian deserters that an attack was pending at the end of the month and that the Russians were sapping trenches forward opposite the Austrian 2nd ...

Timothy Dowling, 2008

Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales

South Table-laud and South Coast. Forester Rotton, Picton. — One is as effective as the other, if done carefully at the proper season, but I consider sapping preferable, inasmuch as it kills the timber very much quicker, and the grass comes ...

‎1895

Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales

One is as' effective as the other, if done carefully at the proper season, but Itonsider sapping preferable, inasmuch as it kills the timber very much quicker, and the grass comes much sooner. Bkig- barkrng, if possible, should be done in rainy ...

New South Wales. Dept. of Agriculture, 1895

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SAPPING»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term sapping is used in the context of the following news items.

Is hospitality sapping productivity in Japan?

While Japan is revered for this hospitality, or omotenashi, all that bowing and scraping may be sapping productivity. So much so that the nation has ranked ... «The Japan Times, Jul 15»

Is Ohio sapping 'green' tech job growth?

TRENTON – At Nutrinsic's recent grand opening celebration here, the founders of the Denver-based firm pledged to clean waste water to better the environment ... «Cincinnati.com, Jun 15»

'Lifestyle Inflation' Is Sapping Your Savings

Congratulations! You got a raise, came into an inheritance or sold your home for a profit. No matter what has brought more money into your budget, it's important ... «Money, May 15»

Is Working Remotely Sapping Your Creativity?

Proponents of virtual work certainly make a great pitch: no traffic, no hassles, no shoes. And the trend is certainly taking hold. The number of people ... «blogs.hbr.org, Apr 15»

US Adviser Warns That Russia Is Sapping World Order

U.S. diplomat Charles Hill was a senior adviser to former U.S. secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and to Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the sixth ... «The Moscow Times, Apr 15»

CERAWEEK-Oilfield slowdown seen sapping US diesel demand

HOUSTON, April 21 A sharp slowdown in oilfield work in the United States will temper demand for diesel as less of the fuel is consumed, the chief economist for ... «Reuters, Apr 15»

IMF: Slowing Emerging-Market Growth Is Sapping Global Economic …

Global economic growth will accelerate only marginally this year as slowing output in major emerging markets and a feeble expansion in wealthier countries ... «Wall Street Journal, Apr 15»

Analysts See China's Anti-Graft Drive Sapping Economy

BEIJING—. As China presses forward with a wide-ranging anti-corruption drive, economists and financial professionals say its impact on the broader economy is ... «Voice of America, Mar 15»

Beware the bracket: The awful, soul-sapping day March Madness …

Beware the bracket: The awful, soul-sapping day March Madness cost me $24,000. The NCAA Tournament showed me that it's the hope that kills you. That and ... «The Guardian, Mar 15»

Another npower saga that is sapping consumers' energy

Another npower saga that is sapping consumers' energy. We had demands for payment, threats, letters saying we're in credit – now we're worried about our ... «The Guardian, Mar 15»