sponge

SPUNJ/spʌnd͡ʒ/

23 meanings of sponge

1
cleaning toolnouncountable
A piece of material full of tiny holes, used for washing. Many are now made of plastic.
She wiped the kitchen counter with a wet sponge.
He keeps two sponges by the bathtub.
2
sea animalnouncountable
A sea animal with no backbone whose skeleton is full of tiny holes.
We saw a bright orange sponge on the rocks while snorkeling.
Small fish hid among the sponges on the reef.
Similarporiferan
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3
wipe upverbtransitive
To clean, soak up liquid, or touch something lightly with a sponge.
Sponge the kitchen table down after dinner.
She sponged up the spilled milk.
Similarwipe, dab, swab, bathe, blot
4
light cakenouncountable or uncountable
A kind of cake that feels light, not heavy.
She baked a lemon sponge for her mom's birthday.
Can I have another slice of sponge with strawberries?
5
free ridernounslangcountable or uncountable
A person who uses other people's kindness to get money or help for free.
My cousin is a sponge. He never pays for his own lunch.
Don't lend him money again. He's a sponge.
Similarfreeloader, moocher, leech, parasite, scrounger
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6
verbtransitive
To get things like food or money from people by using their kindness unfairly.
He tried to sponge a free lunch from his old friend.
She doesn't want to sponge on her parents after college.
Similarblag
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7
quick learnernouncountable or uncountable
A person who learns new ideas very quickly and easily.
In her first week at the new job, Mia was a sponge and learned something from everyone.
Young kids are sponges, so be careful what you say around them.
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8
absorbverbtransitive
To soak up or take in something, like a sponge takes in water.
Dry bread will sponge up the soup if you leave it in the bowl.
Kids sponge up new words faster than adults do.
Similarabsorb, soak
9
foam materialnoununcountable
The man-made material full of tiny holes that cleaning sponges are made from.
The toy duck is made of soft yellow sponge.
This block of sponge soaks up water very fast.
Similarfoam
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10
birth controlnouncountable
A kind of birth control: a sponge that is put inside the vagina.
Her doctor explained how to put in the sponge and how long to leave it in.
The drugstore sells the sponge next to other kinds of birth control.

11
eraseverbtransitive
To wipe away writing with a sponge, or to remove every sign of something.
Please sponge out that last line on the board. It's wrong.
Nothing she did could sponge out the memory of that day.
Similarwipe, erase, rub, expunge, efface
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12
steamed puddingnounBritishcountable or uncountable
A kind of pudding that is cooked with steam, not in an oven.
Gran steamed a syrup sponge for Sunday lunch.
On cold days the school served a hot steamed sponge with custard.
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13
heavy drinkernouncolloquialcountable or uncountable
A person who drinks a lot of alcohol.
Her uncle is a real sponge and can drink beer all night.
Everyone at the bar knew the old sponge would order another whiskey.
Similardrunk, drunkard, alcoholic, drinker, boozer
14
nouncountable
Any material that looks, feels, or acts like a sponge.
The moss on the forest floor forms a thick sponge that holds rainwater.
Scientists made a black sponge from carbon that soaks up spilled oil.
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15
risen doughnouncountable or uncountable
Bread dough that yeast has made light and full of bubbles, before it is worked and shaped into loaves.
After adding the yeast, leave the sponge somewhere warm until it is full of bubbles.
Grandpa mixes the sponge the night before he bakes bread.
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16
rise (dough)verbintransitive
For dough, to become light and full of bubbles because of yeast.
Add the yeast, cover the bowl, and let the dough sponge for an hour.
The yeasty mixture was sponging nicely beside the warm stove.
Similarrise, prove
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17
cheat out ofverbtransitive
To take things away from a person by taking unfair advantage of them.
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18
verb
For a dolphin, to use a piece of sea sponge as a tool when looking for food.
19
noun
Lumps of iron ore that have been turned into iron but not yet melted or shaped.
20
noun
A mop on a pole, covered with sheepskin or thick cloth, used to clean inside a cannon after it is fired.
21
nounslang
A person who works at a nuclear power plant and is often around radiation as part of the job.
22
noun
Iron that is still soft, like thick paste, when it comes out of a puddling furnace.
23
noun
One of the two ends of a horseshoe, at the heel of the horse's foot.

Practice

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Origin

The word came into English long ago from Latin, and Latin took it from Greek.