Meaning & use
sapling
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Meanings
nouncountable
A young tree with a thin trunk that has started to grow tall but is not yet fully developed.
Grammar: A countable noun for a single young tree: plant a sapling, plant saplings.
Patterns
- plant a sapling
- a sapling of something
The students planted a sapling beside the school gate.
A young oak sapling pushed through the cracks in the pavement.
Deer had nibbled the bark of the saplings.
nouncountableliteraryfigurative
A slim, young person, especially a boy, in a literary or humorous way.
Grammar: A figurative use found in older or literary texts.
The sapling of a boy carried the heavy bucket without complaint.
She watched the tall sapling of a boy climb the fence.
At sixteen he was still a sapling, narrow and quick.
Word forms
| plural | saplings |
|---|
Common combinations
- plant a sapling
- We plant a sapling every spring.
- young sapling
- The wind bent the young sapling.
- oak sapling
- An oak sapling grew near the wall.
- tender sapling
- The gardener staked each tender sapling.
- protect the saplings
- A fence will protect the saplings from rabbits.
- sapling forest
- The area is now a sapling forest.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seedling
- Seedling is a tiny young plant just grown from seed, while a sapling is a young tree with a trunk.
- shoot
- Shoot is a new growth on any plant, while a sapling is a whole young tree.
- whip
- Whip is a technical forestry word for a very thin, young tree, and is less common than sapling.
- young tree
- Young tree is the plain description, while sapling is the single word and sounds more specific.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sapling or seedling?
sapling vs seedling
A seedling is a very young plant of any kind, often only a few leaves. A sapling is a young tree with a woody trunk.
Practice
The park ranger staked each ___ so that the wind would not bend it.
Choose one answer.
A sapling is a young tree with a slender trunk, which needs a stake. A seedling is usually too small and soft to be staked this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sapling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.