sapping

He did not protest beyond presently a transient frown as at a bad taste on his tongue, and a rather petulant objection to her use of analogies, which he called the sapping of language.

Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

He did not protest beyond presently a transient frown as at a bad taste on his tongue, and a rather petulant objection to her use of analogies, which he called the sapping of language.

The Tragic Comedians — Volume 3 George Meredith 1868

He did not protest beyond presently a transient frown as at a bad taste on his tongue, and a rather petulant objection to her use of analogies, which he called the sapping of language.

The Tragic Comedians — Complete George Meredith 1868

And when once on the downward slope, chronic innutrition is an important factor in sapping vitality and hastening the descent.

THOSE ON THE EDGE 2010

And when once on the downward slope, chronic innutrition is an important factor in sapping vitality and hastening the descent.

Those on the Edge 1903

I’ve heard brain sapping can be a painful experience.

Think Progress » Bush and Merkel, united against stem cell research. 2006

The sapping is a laborious task, for the galleries run to a great depth.

More Hunting Wasps Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

Ius Chasma is believed to have been shaped by a process called sapping when water seeped from the layers of the cliffs and evaporated before it reached the canyon floor.

Scientific Frontline by SFL ORG Educational News Network 2008

I might just have blog fatigue like everyone gets, but also I feel like it was kind of sapping my autobiographical juices, which I need to put in this other project.

A Conversation with Alison Bechdel « Gender Across Borders 2010

Last year the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, warned that a lack of public appreciation for Britain's military effort in Iraq and Afghanistan was in danger of "sapping" the willingness of troops to serve on dangerous operations.

Archive 2008-05-01 2008