sponge
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sponge
(spŭnj)n.
1.
a. Any of numerous aquatic, chiefly marine filter-feeding invertebrate animals of the phylum Porifera, characteristically having a porous skeleton composed of fibrous material or siliceous or calcareous spicules and often forming colonies attached to an underwater surface. Also called poriferan.
b. A piece of the absorbent skeleton of certain of these organisms, or a piece of plastic or another material that is similar in absorbency, used for cleaning, bathing, and other purposes.
2. Metal in a porous, brittle form, as after the removal of other metals in processing, used as a raw material in manufacturing.
3. A gauze pad used to absorb blood and other fluids, as in surgery or the dressing of a wound.
4. A small absorbent contraceptive pad that contains a spermicide and is placed against the cervix of the uterus before sexual intercourse.
5. Dough that has been or is being leavened.
6. A light cake, such as sponge cake.
7. Informal One who habitually depends on others for one's own maintenance.
8. Slang A person who drinks large amounts of alcohol.
v. sponged, spong·ing, spong·es
v.tr.
1. To moisten, wipe, or clean with a sponge or cloth: sponge off the table.
2. To remove or absorb with a sponge or cloth: sponge off the sweat; sponge up the mess.
3. To apply or daub with a sponge: sponge paint on the wall.
4. Informal To obtain free, as by begging or freeloading: sponge a meal.
v.intr.
1. To harvest sponges.
2. Informal To obtain something such as food or money by relying on the generosity of others: sponged off her parents.
[Middle English, from Old English, from Latin spongia, from Greek spongiā, from spongos.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
sponge
(spʌndʒ)n
1. (Animals) any multicellular typically marine animal of the phylum Porifera, usually occurring in complex sessile colonies in which the porous body is supported by a fibrous, calcareous, or siliceous skeletal framework
2. (Textiles) a piece of the light porous highly absorbent elastic skeleton of certain sponges, used in bathing, cleaning, etc. See also spongin
3. (Textiles) any of a number of light porous elastic materials resembling a sponge
4. another word for sponger1
5. (Brewing) informal a person who indulges in heavy drinking
6. (Cookery) leavened dough, esp before kneading
7. (Cookery) short for sponge cake
8. (Cookery) Also called: sponge pudding Brit a light steamed or baked pudding, spongy in texture, made with various flavourings or fruit
9. (Elements & Compounds) porous metal produced by electrolysis or by reducing a metal compound without fusion or sintering and capable of absorbing large quantities of gas: platinum sponge.
10. a rub with a sponge
11. throw in the sponge See throw in4
vb
12. (tr; often foll by off or down) to clean (something) by wiping or rubbing with a damp or wet sponge
13. (tr; usually foll by off, away, out, etc) to remove (marks, etc) by rubbing with a damp or wet sponge or cloth
14. (when: tr, often foll by up) to absorb (liquids, esp when spilt) in the manner of a sponge
15. (often foll by: off) to get (something) from (someone) by presuming on his generosity: to sponge a meal off someone.
16. (intr; often foll by off or on) to obtain one's subsistence, welfare, etc, unjustifiably (from): he sponges off his friends.
17. (Zoology) (intr) to go collecting sponges
[Old English, from Latin spongia, from Greek]
ˈspongeˌlike adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
sponge
(spʌndʒ)n., v. sponged, spong•ing. n.
1. any porous, aquatic, sessile animal of the phylum Porifera, having a fibrous siliceous or calcareous internal skeleton and lacking tissue organization.
2. the skeleton of certain sponges, readily absorbing water and becoming soft when wet while retaining toughness.
3. a piece of any of various absorbent materials, as a block of porous cellulose or a surgical gauze pad.
4. a person or thing that absorbs something freely.
5. a person who lives at the expense of others; sponger.
6. Informal. a drunkard.
7. a porous mass of metallic particles, as of platinum, obtained by the reduction of an oxide or purified compound at a temperature below the melting point.
8.
a. yeast-raised bread dough, esp. before kneading.
b. a light pudding made with gelatin, fruit juice, etc.
9. a disposable piece of polyurethane foam impregnated with a spermicide for insertion into the vagina as a contraceptive.
v.t. 10. to wipe or rub with or as if with a wet sponge.
11. to wipe out or efface with or as if with a sponge (often fol. by out).
12. to take up or absorb with or as if with a sponge (often fol. by up).
13. to obtain by imposing on another's good nature.
v.i. 14. to take in or soak up liquid by absorption.
15. to live at the expense of others (often fol. by on or off).
16. to gather sponges.
[before 1000; (n.) Middle English, Old English < Latin spongia, spongea < Greek spongia]
spong′er, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
sponge
(spŭnj)1. Any of various primitive invertebrate animals that live in the ocean and are attached to rocks or other objects. Unlike other animals, sponges have bodies with only one type of tissue and no organs. The bodies have many passages and chambers that water flows through so that food can be filtered out.
2. The soft, porous, absorbent skeleton of certain of these animals, used for bathing, cleaning, and other purposes.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
sponge
- loofah - Not a sponge but a dried tropical fruit used as a sponge.
- sponge bath - An all-over washing of the body with a sponge or washcloth instead of taking a bath or shower.
- bibulous - First meant "absorbent, like a sponge," and later figuratively meant "addicted to alcohol."
- sponge - From Latin spongia, and Greek sphoggos, "water growth."
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
sponge
Past participle: sponged
Gerund: sponging
| Imperative |
|---|
| sponge |
| sponge |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  sponge - a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly usedabsorbent, absorbent material - a material having capacity or tendency to absorb another substance |
| 2. | sponge - someone able to acquire new knowledge and skills rapidly and easily; "she soaks up foreign languages like a sponge" assimilator, learner, scholar - someone (especially a child) who learns (as from a teacher) or takes up knowledge or beliefs | |
| 3. | sponge - a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage follower - a person who accepts the leadership of another | |
| 4. | sponge - primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs in sessile colonies invertebrate - any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification phylum Porifera, Porifera - coextensive with the subkingdom Parazoa: sponges glass sponge - a siliceous sponge (with glassy spicules) of the class Hyalospongiae | |
| Verb | 1. | sponge - wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten |
| 2. | sponge - ask for and get free; be a parasite obtain - come into possession of; "How did you obtain the visa?" freeload - live off somebody's generosity; "This young man refuses to work and is freeloading" | |
| 3. | sponge - erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard | |
| 4. | sponge - soak up with a sponge | |
| 5. | sponge - gather sponges, in the ocean gather, pull together, collect, garner - assemble or get together; "gather some stones"; "pull your thoughts together" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
sponge
sponge off someone scrounge, cadge, freeload (slang), beg, bum (informal), touch (someone) for (slang), blag (slang), wheedle, sorn (Scot.), bludge (Austral. & N.Z. informal) He should just get an honest job and stop sponging off the rest of us!
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
sponge
noun1. One who depends on another for support without reciprocating:
Slang: freeloader.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
TranslationsSelect a language:
Spanish / Español
sponge
[spʌndʒ]A. N
3. (Zool) → esponja f
B. VT
1. (= wash) → lavar con esponja, limpiar con esponja
C. VI (= scrounge) → dar sablazos, vivir de gorra
to sponge off or on sb (= depend on) → vivir de algn; (on occasion) → dar sablazos a algn
to sponge off or on sb (= depend on) → vivir de algn; (on occasion) → dar sablazos a algn
D. CPD sponge bag N → esponjera f
sponge cake N → bizcocho m, queque m, pastelito m (LAm)
sponge pudding N → pudín m de bizcocho
sponge cake N → bizcocho m, queque m, pastelito m (LAm)
sponge pudding N → pudín m de bizcocho
sponge down VT + ADV → limpiar con esponja, lavar con esponja
sponge off
C. VI + PREP
see sponge C
see sponge C
sponge up VT + ADV → absorber
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
sponge
(spandʒ) noun1. a type of sea animal, or its soft skeleton, which has many holes and is able to suck up and hold water. esponja
2. a piece of such a skeleton or a substitute, used for washing the body etc. esponja
3. a sponge pudding or cake. We had jam sponge for dessert.bizcocho
4. an act of wiping etc with a sponge. Give the table a quick sponge over, will you? pasada de esponja
verb1. to wipe or clean with a sponge. She sponged the child's face.lavar con esponja
2. to get a living, money etc (from someone else). He's been sponging off/on us for years.vivir de gorra
ˈsponger noun a person who lives by sponging on others. gorrón
ˈspongy adjective soft and springy or holding water like a sponge. spongy ground.esponjoso
ˈspongily adverb de manera esponjosa
ˈsponginess nounsponge cake, sponge pudding (a) very light cake or pudding made from flour, eggs and sugar etc. bizcocho
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
sponge
→ bizcocho , esponjaMultilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
sponge
n. esponja;
v. esponjar, remojar con una esponja.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
sponge
n esponjaEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.