# sponge

Pronunciation: say "SPUNJ" /spʌnd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. A porous piece of material for washing or cleaning, once taken from the sea animal of the same name and now often made of plastic.
   - Simple: A piece of material full of tiny holes, used for washing. Many are now made of plastic.
   - _The first-aid kit held bandages, a pair of scissors, and a sponge for cleaning wounds._
   - _He scrubbed the pan with the rough side of the sponge._
2. Any of many invertebrate animals of the phylum Porifera, living mostly in the sea and supported by a porous skeleton that is often made of silica.
   - Simple: A sea animal with no backbone whose skeleton is full of tiny holes.
   - _A sponge pumps seawater through the tiny pores in its body to catch food._
   - _The research vessel brought up several deep-sea sponges with delicate skeletons of glassy silica._
4. A type of cake with a light, airy texture.
   - Simple: A kind of cake that feels light, not heavy.
   - _The bakery's vanilla sponge is layered with jam and whipped cream._
   - _Let the sponges cool on a wire rack before you frost them._
5. A person who takes advantage of other people's generosity, soaking up their money or effort the way a sponge soaks up water. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who uses other people's kindness to get money or help for free.
   - _He's been sleeping on his brother's couch for six months and eating all his groceries. A real sponge._
   - _She was tired of being surrounded by sponges who only called when they needed a loan._
7. A person who absorbs new ideas and information quickly and readily.
   - Simple: A person who learns new ideas very quickly and easily.
   - _As an intern she was a sponge, soaking up everything the senior engineers taught her._
   - _Toddlers are sponges for language and pick up phrases after hearing them just once._
9. The porous material from which synthetic washing sponges are made.
   - Simple: The man-made material full of tiny holes that cleaning sponges are made from.
   - _The scrubber has a layer of sponge on one side and a rough green pad on the other._
   - _She glued a strip of sponge inside the lid to stop it from rattling._
10. A form of contraception in which a sponge is inserted into the vagina.
   - Simple: A kind of birth control: a sponge that is put inside the vagina.
   - _She asked the clinic nurse whether the sponge or the pill would suit her better._
   - _Sponges, condoms, and diaphragms were displayed on the same pharmacy shelf._
12. A type of pudding that is cooked by steaming rather than by baking in an oven. *(British)*
   - Simple: A kind of pudding that is cooked with steam, not in an oven.
   - _She covered the basin with foil and left the sponge to steam for two hours before turning it out._
   - _The pub's winter menu has a sticky ginger sponge, steamed to order and served with custard._
13. A person who regularly drinks a great deal of alcohol. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person who drinks a lot of alcohol.
   - _He had a reputation as a sponge who could finish a bottle of gin before dinner._
   - _By closing time only the sponges at the end of the bar were still knocking back doubles._
14. Any substance or material that is like a sponge in its structure, texture, or behavior.
   - Simple: Any material that looks, feels, or acts like a sponge.
   - _Inside the bone is a light sponge of thin struts that adds strength without much weight._
   - _As the lava cooled, trapped gas left the rock a gray sponge riddled with air pockets._
15. In baking, dough that yeast or leaven has turned into a light, porous mass, before it is kneaded and shaped into loaves.
   - Simple: Bread dough that yeast has made light and full of bubbles, before it is worked and shaped into loaves.
   - _Once the sponge had turned light and bubbly, she worked in the rest of the flour and kneaded it into dough._
   - _A slow overnight sponge gives the finished loaves a deeper flavor._

## Verb

3. To clean, soak up, or dab something with a sponge.
   - Simple: To clean, soak up liquid, or touch something lightly with a sponge.
   - _Gently sponge the wine stain with cold water before it sets._
   - _The nurse sponged the patient's forehead to cool him down._
6. To get things from other people by taking unfair advantage of their kindness or generosity.
   - Simple: To get things like food or money from people by using their kindness unfairly.
   - _His brother-in-law turns up every weekend to sponge on the family._
   - _He sponged a ride home and twenty dollars for gas from a coworker._
8. To suck in or absorb something, the way a sponge takes up liquid.
   - Simple: To soak up or take in something, like a sponge takes in water.
   - _Moss and fallen leaves sponge up rainwater and let it out slowly into streams._
   - _During her year in Lisbon she sponged up the language, the music, and the street slang._
11. To wipe writing or marks away with a sponge, or more generally to erase something so that no trace of it remains.
   - Simple: To wipe away writing with a sponge, or to remove every sign of something.
   - _She sponged yesterday's chalk diagrams off the board before class._
   - _Years of good work could not sponge out the record of that one mistake._
16. Of dough or a similar mixture, to become a light, porous mass through the action of yeast or leaven.
   - Simple: For dough, to become light and full of bubbles because of yeast.
   - _Stir in the yeast, then leave the batter in a warm corner to sponge until it has doubled._
   - _Overnight the dough sponged into a soft, bubbly mass that filled the crock._
17. To take something away from someone by imposing on them, so that they are left without it.
   - Simple: To take things away from a person by taking unfair advantage of them.

## Other meanings

- (verb) Of a dolphin, to use a piece of wild sponge as a tool while foraging for food.
- (noun) A porous mass of iron ore that has been reduced but not yet melted or worked.
- (noun) A mop for cleaning the bore of a cannon after firing, made of a wooden cylinder covered with wool-on sheepskin or cloth with a heavy looped nap, on a handle or staff.
- (noun) A worker at a nuclear power plant whose job routinely exposes them to radiation.
- (noun) Iron taken from a puddling furnace while it is still in a soft, pasty state.
- (noun) One end or point of a horseshoe, the part that corresponds to the heel of the hoof.

## Origin

From Middle English sponge, from Old English spunge, which was borrowed from Latin spongia. The Latin word came from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), from σπόγγος (spóngos).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sponge (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).