<B>sapper</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a soldier employed in the construction of trenches, fortifications, and the like. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person employed to detect and disarm mines, bombs, and other explosive devices. <BR> <I>Ex. The sappers had not yet examined the rubble and blasted buildings for ... booby traps (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a person or thing that saps or undermines. <BR> <I>Ex. The bastions will stand ... however much the sappers of successful integration burrow away (Elspeth Huxley).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sapper">
<B>sapper</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who removes the sap from wood or trees. <BR> <I>Ex. a maple syrup sapper.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a tool for cutting away sapwood. </DL>
<A NAME="sapphic">
<B>Sapphic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with Sappho, a Greek lyric poetess who lived about 600 B.C. <DD><B> 2. </B>having to do with certain meters, or a four-line stanza form, used by or named after her. <BR> <I>Ex. We send our thanks to you ... in scattered Sapphic lines (Atlantic).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a Sapphic stanza, strophe, or line of verse. </DL>
<A NAME="sapphira">
<B>Sapphira, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a woman who, with her husband Ananias, was struck dead for lying (in the Bible, Acts 5:1-10). </DL>
<A NAME="sapphire">
<B>sapphire, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>a bright-blue precious stone that is hard and clear like a diamond. It is a variety of corundum. <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative:) Orselli considered the stars, each shining with a separate glory: golden Dubhe, blue Denebola, Vega the pale sapphire (Henry Morton Robinson). <DD><B> 2. </B>the color of the sapphire; bright blue. <DD><B> 3. </B>a gem-quality corundum of any other color except red (commonly prefixed by the color). <BR> <I>Ex. a pink sapphire.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>bright-blue. <BR> <I>Ex. a sapphire gown, a sapphire sky.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>made or consisting of a sapphire or sapphires. <BR> <I>Ex. a sapphire brooch.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sapphireberry">
<B>sapphireberry, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small tree native to Japan and China with fragrant white flowers and bright blue fruit. </DL>
<A NAME="sapphireblue">
<B>sapphire blue,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a bright blue, the color of the gem. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Poetic.) any clear or deep blue. </DL>
<A NAME="sapphirequartz">
<B>sapphire quartz,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a dark-blue variety of quartz. </DL>
<A NAME="sapphirine">
<B>sapphirine, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or like sapphire. <BR> <I>Ex. a sapphirine sky.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a pale-blue or greenish mineral consisting of a silicate of aluminum and magnesium. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Especially British.) a blue variety of spinel. </DL>
<B>saprolite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> soft, partly decomposed rock remaining in its original place. </DL>
<A NAME="saprolitic">
<B>saprolitic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or like saprolite. </DL>
<A NAME="saprophagous">
<B>saprophagous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> living on decomposing matter; saprophytic. </DL>
<A NAME="saprophyte">
<B>saprophyte, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any vegetable organism that lives on decaying organic matter. <BR> <I>Ex. The best-known saprophytes ... include mushrooms, molds, mildew, bacteria, rusts, and smuts (William C. Beaver).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="saprophytic">
<B>saprophytic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or like a saprophyte; living on decaying organic matter. adv. <B>saprophytically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sapsago">
<B>sapsago, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a hard, greenish cheese flavored with melilot, originally made in Switzerland. </DL>
<A NAME="sapsucker">
<B>sapsucker, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small NorthAmerican woodpecker that feeds on the sap and sapwood of trees. The common or yellow-bellied sapsucker drills rows of small holes in trees and eats the inner bark, and later the sap and insects that gather in the holes. </DL>
<A NAME="sapucaia">
<B>sapucaia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a South American tree related to the monkeypot that yields an edible nut. <DD><B> 2. </B>the hard wood of this tree, used in building. </DL>
<A NAME="sapucaianut">
<B>sapucaia nut,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the nut of the sapucaia, similar to the Brazil nut, and yielding a valuable oil; paradise nut. </DL>
<A NAME="sapwood">
<B>sapwood, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the soft, new, living wood between the bark and the hard, inner wood of most trees; alburnum. </DL>
<B>Sara, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Negro tribe living near the Ubangi River in the Central African Republic. The female members of this tribe are called Ubangis. </DL>
<A NAME="saraband">
<B>saraband, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a slow and stately dance of Spanish origin, popular in the 1600's and 1700's. The saraband was originally for a single dancer, but was later performed by couples. <DD><B> 2. </B>music for it. </DL>
<A NAME="saracen">
<B>Saracen, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an Arab. <DD><B> 2. </B>a Moslem at the time of the Crusades. <DD><B> 3. </B>a member of the nomadic peoples of the Syrian and Arabian deserts at the time of the later Greeks and of the Roman Empire. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Saracens. </DL>
<A NAME="saracenic">
<B>Saracenic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or characteristic of the Saracens. </DL>
<B>Sarah, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac (in the Bible, Genesis 17:15). </DL>
<A NAME="sarah">
<B>SARAH</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> Search and Rescue and Homing (a radio and radar beam device used in locating people lost at sea). <BR> <I>Ex. SARAH ... weighs only about 3 lb. and can be carried in a Mae West (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sarakole">
<B>Sarakole, </B>noun, pl. <B>-le</B> or <B>-les.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of a chiefly Moslem Negro people of Mali and Gambia descended from the Soninkes, who established the empire of Ghana. The Sarakole are mainly farmers, cattle raisers, and merchants. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Mandingo language of this people. Also, <B>Serahuli.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="saran">
<B>saran, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a thermoplastic resin produced as a fiber, film, or molded form and highly resistant to damage and soiling. It is used to package food, in automobile seat covers, in clothing, and for other commercial purposes. </DL>
<A NAME="sarangi">
<B>sarangi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a stringed musical instrument of India resembling a violin. <BR> <I>Ex. ... the sarangi, a chunky instrument fitted with 29 strings (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sarape">
<B>sarape, </B>noun. <B>=serape.</B></DL>
<A NAME="sarasvati">
<B>Sarasvati, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Hindu goddess of learning, and patroness of the arts and music. </DL>
<A NAME="saraswati">
<B>Saraswati, </B>noun. <B>=Sarasvati.</B></DL>
<A NAME="saratogatrunk">
<B>Saratoga trunk,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of large trunk formerly much used by women. </DL>
<A NAME="sarcasm">
<B>sarcasm, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of making fun of a person to hurt his feelings; harsh or bitter irony. <BR> <I>Ex. "How unselfish you are!" said the girl in sarcasm as her brother took the biggest piece of cake. Sarcasm, I now see to be, in general, the language of the Devil (Thomas Carlyle).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a sneering or cutting remark; ironical taunt. <BR> <I>Ex. Blows are sarcasms turned stupid (George Eliot).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the substance of such a remark or remarks. </DL>
<A NAME="sarcastic">
<B>sarcastic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> using sarcasm; sneering; bitterly cutting; ironical; taunting; caustic. <BR> <I>Ex. "Don't hurry!" was her father's sarcastic comment as she slowly dressed.</I> adv. <B>sarcastically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sarcee">
<B>Sarcee, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cee</B> or <B>-cees.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a member of an Athapascan people of Alberta, Canada. Most of the Sarcee are now living on a reservation near Calgary. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Athapascan dialect of this people. Also, <B>Sarsi.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sarcenet">
<B>sarcenet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a soft, thin silk fabric, either plain or twilled, used especially for linings. Also, <B>sarsenet.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sarci">
<B>Sarci, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ci</B> or <B>-cis.</B> <B>=Sarcee.</B></DL>
<A NAME="sarco">
<B>sarco-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) <DD><B> 1. </B>flesh; fleshy, as in <I>sarcology.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>muscle tissue, as in <I>sarcosome.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sarcocarp">
<B>sarcocarp, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the fleshy mesocarp of certain fruits, such as the peach and plum. It is the part usually eaten. <DD><B> 2. </B>any fruit that is fleshy. </DL>
<A NAME="sarcode">
<B>sarcode, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the protoplasm of a one-celled animal. <BR> <I>Ex. Two years later, in 1835, Dujardin, a French protozoologist, described the semifluid substance in unicellular animals and coined the term sarcode (Hegner and Stiles).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sarcodinian">
<B>sarcodinian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or belonging to a large group of amebalike protozoans that move and take in food by means of pseudopodia. The rhizopods are sarcodinian organisms. <DD><I>noun </I> a protozoan belonging to this group; rhizopod. </DL>
