noun

sapling

SAP-lihng

noun

A young tree, past the seedling stage but still slender and immature.

"We planted a row of oak saplings along the fence."

"The storm snapped the thin sapling in half."

A young person, especially a boy approaching adulthood.

"He was just a sapling of a lad when he first joined the crew."

How to Use Sapling

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA young, still-growing tree.

Common pairings

plant a sapling young sapling oak sapling

saplings plural

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We planted a row of oak _____ along the fence.

From Middle English "sapling," built from sap plus the diminutive suffix "-ling."