English Explanatory Dictionary

sponge

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
  2. A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).
  3. The porous material that synthetic washing sponges are made of.
  4. A heavy drinker.
  5. A type of light cake.
  6. A type of steamed pudding.
  7. A person who takes advantage of the generosity of others (abstractly imagined to absorb or soak up the money or efforts of others like a sponge).
  8. A person who readily absorbs ideas.
  9. A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
  10. Any sponge-like substance.
  11. Dough before it is kneaded and formed into loaves, and after it is converted into a light, spongy mass by the agency of the yeast or leaven.
  12. Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
verb
  1. To take advantage of the kindness of others.
  2. To get by imposition; to scrounge.
  3. To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.
  4. To clean, soak up, or dab with a sponge.
  5. To suck in, or imbibe, like a sponge.
  6. To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.
  7. To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
  8. To use a piece of wild sponge as a tool when foraging for food.

Pronunciation

spŭnj /spʌnd͡ʒ/ en-us-sponge.ogg

Word forms

sponge sponges sponging sponged

Etymology

From Middle English sponge, from Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), from σπόγγος (spóngos).

Synonyms

sea sponge bath sponge poriferan porifer souse swill-pot alco alcoholic alkie bacchanal bacchant barfly bibber booze artist boozehound boozer borachio bouser carouser cupster dipso dipsomaniac drinker drunk drunkard fuddlecap fuddler grog artist guzzler inebriate juicehead lick-wimble lush lusher maltworm pisshead pisspot plonko reel-pot rinse-pitcher rumpot shicker slubberdegullion soak soaker sot sponge squeeze-grape sucker suck-pint swill-belly swill-bowl swill-flagon swill-tub swillking tippler toper tosspot tun winebibber

Related words

foam

Derived words

bacteriosponge barrel sponge breadcrumb sponge bullet sponge calcareous sponge calcisponge chewing sponge chuck up the sponge contraceptive sponge coralline sponge cyanosponge cytosponge demosponge disponge draw a sponge over the slate fun sponge glass sponge globe sponge glove sponge honeycomb sponge lyre sponge Menger sponge menstrual sponge microsponge nanosponge pass a sponge over the slate platinum sponge sclerosponge sea sponge set a sponge sheepswool sponge Sierpinski sponge slime sponge smoke sponge sponge bag spongebag pants sponge-bag pants spongebags sponge bath sponge-brained sponge brush sponge cake spongecase sponge city sponge cloth sponge construction sponge crab sponge down spongeful sponge function sponge gourd spongeless spongelet spongelike sponge out sponge roll sponge tax sponge toffee spongeware spongework

Translations

Asturian: esponxa Catalan: esponja Czech: houba Finnish: sieni Galician: esponxa Greek: σφουγγάρι Hungarian: szivacsanyag Macedonian: су́нѓер Pashto: سپنج Russian: гу́бка Turkish: sünger Ottoman Turkish: سونگر
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