Sponge

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Sponge, n. [OF. esponge, F. éponge, L. spongia, Gr. spoggia`, spo`ggos. Cf. Fungus, Spunk.].

•  Any one of numerous species of Spongiæ, or Porifera. See Illust. and Note under Spongiæ.  [1913 Webster]
•  The elastic fibrous skeleton of many species of horny Spongiæ (Keratosa), used for many purposes, especially the varieties of the genus Spongia. The most valuable sponges are found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and on the coasts of Florida and the West Indies.  [1913 Webster]
•  One who lives upon others; a pertinacious and indolent dependent; a parasite; a sponger.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any spongelike substance.  [1913 Webster]
•  A mop for cleaning the bore of a cannon after a discharge. It consists of a cylinder of wood, covered with sheepskin with the wool on, or cloth with a heavy looped nap, and having a handle, or staff.  [1913 Webster]
•  The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, answering to the heel.  [1913 Webster]

Bath sponge, any one of several varieties of coarse commercial sponges, especially Spongia equina. -- Cup sponge, a toilet sponge growing in a cup-shaped form. -- Glass sponge. See Glass-sponge, in the Vocabulary. -- Glove sponge, a variety of commercial sponge (Spongia officinalis, variety tubulifera), having very fine fibers, native of Florida, and the West Indies. -- Grass sponge, any one of several varieties of coarse commercial sponges having the surface irregularly tufted, as Spongia graminea, and S. equina, variety cerebriformis, of Florida and the West Indies. -- Horse sponge, a coarse commercial sponge, especially Spongia equina. -- Platinum sponge. (Chem.) See under Platinum. -- Pyrotechnical sponge, a substance made of mushrooms or fungi, which are boiled in water, dried, and beaten, then put in a strong lye prepared with saltpeter, and again dried in an oven. This makes the black match, or tinder, brought from Germany. -- Sheep's-wool sponge, a fine and durable commercial sponge (Spongia equina, variety gossypina) found in Florida and the West Indies. The surface is covered with larger and smaller tufts, having the oscula between them. -- Sponge cake, a kind of sweet cake which is light and spongy. -- Sponge lead, or Spongy lead (Chem.), metallic lead brought to a spongy form by reduction of lead salts, or by compressing finely divided lead; -- used in secondary batteries and otherwise. -- Sponge tree (Bot.), a tropical leguminous tree (Acacia Farnesiana), with deliciously fragrant flowers, which are used in perfumery. -- Toilet sponge, a very fine and superior variety of Mediterranean sponge (Spongia officinalis, variety Mediterranea); -- called also Turkish sponge. -- To set a sponge (Cookery), to leaven a small mass of flour, to be used in leavening a larger quantity. -- To throw up the sponge, to give up a contest; to acknowledge defeat; -- from a custom of the prize ring, the person employed to sponge a pugilist between rounds throwing his sponge in the air in token of defeat; -- now, throw in the towel is more common, and has the same origin and meaning. [Cant or Slang] “He was too brave a man to throw up the sponge to fate.” Lowell. -- Vegetable sponge. (Bot.) See Loof. -- Velvet sponge, a fine, soft commercial sponge (Spongia equina, variety meandriniformis) found in Florida and the West Indies. -- Vitreous sponge. See Glass-sponge. -- Yellow sponge, a common and valuable commercial sponge (Spongia agaricina, variety corlosia) found in Florida and the West Indies.

Sponge, v. t. 

•  To cleanse or wipe with a sponge; as, to sponge a slate or a cannon; to wet with a sponge; as, to sponge cloth.  [1913 Webster]
•  To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.  Hooker.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: To deprive of something by imposition.  South.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: To get by imposition or mean arts without cost; as, to sponge a breakfast.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]

Sponge, v. i. 

•  To suck in, or imbibe, as a sponge.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: To gain by mean arts, by intrusion, or hanging on; as, an idler sponges on his neighbor.  E. Eggleston.  [1913 Webster]

  "The fly is an intruder, and a common smell-feast, that sponges upon other people's trenchers."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast, or leaven.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Sponge, n. & v.
--n.
1 any aquatic animal of the phylum Porifera, with pores in its body wall and a rigid internal skeleton.
2 a the skeleton of a sponge, esp. the soft light elastic absorbent kind used in bathing, cleansing surfaces, etc. b a piece of porous rubber or plastic etc. used similarly.
3 a thing of spongelike absorbency or consistency, e.g. a sponge pudding, cake, porous metal, etc. (lemon sponge).
4 = SPONGER.
5 colloq. a person who drinks heavily.
6 cleansing with or as with a sponge (had a quick sponge this morning).
--v.
1 tr. wipe or cleanse with a sponge.
2 tr. (also absol.; often foll. by down, over) sluice water over (the body, a car, etc.).
3 tr. (often foll. by out, away, etc.) wipe off or efface (writing, a memory, etc.) with or as with a sponge.
4 tr. (often foll. by up) absorb with or as with a sponge.
5 intr. (often foll. by on, off) live as a parasite; be meanly dependent upon (another person).
6 tr. obtain (drink etc.) by sponging.
7 intr. gather sponges.
8 tr. apply paint with a sponge to (walls, furniture, etc.).

Idiom

sponge bag a waterproof bag for toilet articles. sponge cake a very light cake with a spongelike consistency. sponge cloth
1 soft, lightly-woven cloth with a slightly wrinkled surface.
2 a thin spongy material used for cleaning. sponge pudding Brit. a steamed or baked pudding of fat, flour, and eggs with a usu. specified flavour. sponge rubber liquid rubber latex processed into a spongelike substance. sponge tree a spiny tropical acacia, Acacia farnesiana, with globose heads of fragrant yellow flowers yielding a perfume: also called OPOPANAX.

Derivative

spongeable adj. spongelike adj. spongiform adj. (esp. in senses 1, 2).

Etymology

OE f. L spongia f. Gk spoggia, spoggos

THESAURUS

Sponge

Ace bandage, Band-Aid, Finnish bath, India rubber, Japanese bath, Loch Ness monster, Russian bath, Swedish bath, Turkish bath, ablution, absorb, absorbency, absorbent, absorption, adhesive tape, adsorb, adsorbent, adsorption, air, air-dry, alevin, anhydrate, application, asperge, assimilate, assimilation, bake, band, bandage, bandaging, baptize, barnacle, bath, bathe, batten on, beat, bedew, benthon, benthos, bespatter, besprinkle, bibber, binder, bloodsucker, blot, blot out, blot up, blotter, blotting, blotting paper, boozehound, boozer, bottle sucker, brace, brush, bubble, bum, burn, butter, cancel, cast, cataplasm, cetacean, chaff, chemisorb, chemisorption, chemosorb, chemosorption, chip, cleaning out, cobweb, colander, cold shower, compress, cork, cotton, court plaster, cravat, cribble, cribriformity, cribrosity, cross out, crush, cure, dabble, damp, dampen, dash, deadbeat, dehumidify, dehydrate, dele, delete, dental pulp, desiccate, dew, digest, digestion, dolphin, douche, douching, down, drain, dressing, drink, drink in, drink up, drunk, dry, dust, efface, elastic bandage, elbow bender, elution, elutriation, endosmosis, enema, engross, engrossment, epithem, eradicator, erase, eraser, ether, evaporate, exosmosis, expunge, expunger, exsiccate, fairy, fatten on, feather, feed on, filter in, fingerling, fire, fish, flue, fluff, flush, flush out, flushing, flushing out, foam, four-tailed bandage, freeload, freeloader, froth, fry, fuzz, game fish, gargle, gauze, ginhound, give, gossamer, grilse, guzzler, hanger-on, hip bath, holystone, honeycomb, hooch hound, hose, hose down, humect, humectate, humidify, hummum, imbibe, inebriate, infiltrate, infiltration, insolate, irrigate, irrigation, kiln, kipper, lather, lathering, launder, lavabo, lavage, lavation, lave, laving, leech, lint, live off of, lounge lizard, lush, lusher, man-eater, man-eating shark, marine animal, mash, minnow, minny, moisten, mop, mop up, mopping, mopping up, mote, mummify, mush, needle bath, nekton, net, obliterate, osmose, osmosis, paddle, panfish, paper pulp, parasite, parch, paste, percolate in, percolation, pith, plankton, plaster, plaster cast, pledget, plunge bath, porosity, porousness, porpoise, porridge, poultice, present, pudding, pulp, pulp lead, pulpwood, rag pulp, raze, riddle, rinse, rinse out, rinsing, ritually immerse, roller, roller bandage, rub, rub out, rubber, rubber bandage, rule out, rum hound, rummy, salmon, sauce, sauna, sauna bath, scorch, scour, scouring, scratch, scratch out, screen, scrub, scrub up, scrubbing, scrubbing up, sea monster, sea pig, sea serpent, sea snake, sear, seep in, seepage, shampoo, shark, shower, shower bath, shrivel, sieve, sievelikeness, sitz bath, sling, slobber, slop, slosh, sluice, sluice out, slurp up, smash, smell-feast, smoke, smolt, soak, soak in, soak up, soap, soaping, sorb, sorption, sot, souse, sparge, spatter, spiv, splash, splatter, splint, sponge bath, sponge on, sponge out, sponger, sponging, spray, sprinkle, spume, squash, stew, strainer, straw, strike out, stupe, sucker, sulfate pulp, sulfite pulp, sun, sun-dry, swab, swabbing, swash, sweat bath, swill up, swillbelly, swillbowl, swillpot, syringe, take in, take up, tampon, tape, tent, thistledown, tippler, toivel, torrefy, tourniquet, towel, triangular bandage, tropical fish, tub, wash, wash out, wash up, washing, washing up, washout, washup, water, weazen, wet, wet down, whale, whirlpool bath, white lead, wino, wipe, wipe out, wiping up, wither, wizen, wood pulp

ROGET THESAURUS

Sponge

Cleanness

N cleanness, cleanliness, purity, cleaning, purification, defecation, purgation, lustration, detersion, abstersion, epuration, mundation, ablution, lavation, colature, disinfection, drainage, sewerage, lavatory, laundry, washhouse, washerwoman, laundress, dhobi, laundryman, washerman, scavenger, dustman, sweep, white wings brush, broom, besom, mop, rake, shovel, sieve, riddle, screen, filter, blotter, napkin, cloth, maukin, malkin, handkerchief, towel, sudary, doyley, doily, duster, sponge, mop, swab, cover, drugget, wash, lotion, detergent, cathartic, purgative, purifier, disinfectant, aperient, benzene, benzine benzol, benolin, bleaching powder, chloride of lime, dentifrice, deobstruent, laxative, clean, cleanly, pure, immaculate, spotless, stainless, taintless, trig, without a stain, unstained, unspotted, unsoiled, unsullied, untainted, uninfected, sweet, sweet as a nut, neat, spruce, tidy, trim, gimp, clean as a new penny, like a cat in pattens, cleaned, kempt, abstergent, cathartic, cleansing, purifying, neatly, clean as a whistle.

VB be clean, render clean, clean, cleanse, mundify, rinse, wring, flush, full, wipe, mop, sponge, scour, swab, scrub, brush up, wash, lave, launder, buck, absterge, deterge, decrassify, clear, purify, depurate, despumate, defecate, purge, expurgate, elutriate, lixiviate, edulcorate, clarify, refine, rack, filter, filtrate, drain, strain, disinfect, fumigate, ventilate, deodorize, whitewash, castrate, emasculate, sift, winnow, pick, weed, comb, rake, brush, sweep, rout out, clear out, sweep out, make a clean sweep of.

Stealing

VB steal, thieve, rob, mug, purloin, pilfer, filch, prig, bag, nim, crib, cabbage, palm, abstract, appropriate, plagiarize, convey away, carry off, abduct, kidnap, crimp, make off with, walk off with, run off with, run away with, spirit away, seize, plunder, pillage, rifle, sack, loot, ransack, spoil, spoliate, despoil, strip, sweep, gut, forage, levy blackmail, pirate, pickeer, maraud, lift cattle, poach, smuggle, run, badger, bail up, hold up, stick up, bunco, bunko, filibuster, swindle, peculate, embezzle, sponge, mulct, rook, bilk, pluck, pigeon, fleece, defraud, obtain under false pretenses, live by one's wits, rob Peter to pay Paul, borrow of Peter to pay Paul, set a thief to catch a thief, disregard the distinction between meum and tuum, fence, launder, launder money.

Drunkenness

N drunkenness, intemperance, drinking, inebriety, inebriation, ebriety, ebriosity, insobriety, intoxication, temulency, bibacity, wine bibbing, comtation, potation, deep potations, bacchanals, bacchanalia, libations, bender, oinomania, dipsomania, delirium tremens, alcohol, alcoholism, mania a potu, drink, alcoholic drinks, blue ruin, grog, port wine, punch, punch bowl, cup, rosy wine, flowing bowl, drop, drop too much, dram, beer, aguardiente, apple brandy, applejack, brandy, brandy smash, chain lightning, champagne, cocktail, gin, ginsling, highball, peg, rum, rye, schnapps, sherry, sling, uisquebaugh, usquebaugh, whisky, xeres, drunkard, sot, toper, tippler, bibber, wine-bibber, lush, hard drinker, gin drinker, dram drinker, soaker, sponge, tun, love pot, toss pot, thirsty soul, reveler, carouser, Bacchanal, Bacchanalian, Bacchal, Bacchante, devotee to Bacchus, bum, guzzler, tavern haunter, drunk, tipsy, intoxicated, inebrious, inebriate, inebriated, in one's cups, in a state of intoxication, temulent, temulentive, bombed, smashed, fuddled, mellow, cut, boozy, fou, fresh, merry, elevated, flustered, disguised, groggy, beery, top-heavy, potvaliant, glorious, potulent, squiffy, overcome, overtaken, whittled, screwed, tight, primed, corned, raddled, sewed up, lushy, nappy, muddled, muzzy, obfuscated, maudlin, crapulous, dead drunk, woozy, buzzed, flush, flushed, inter pocula, in liquor, the worse for liquor, having had a drop too much, half seas over, three sheets in the wind, three sheets to the wind, under the table, drunk as a lord, drunk as a skunk, drunk as a piper, drunk as a fiddler, drunk as Chloe, drunk as an owl, drunk as David's sow, drunk as a wheelbarrow, drunken, bibacious, sottish, given to drink, addicted to drink, addicted to the bottle, toping, nunc est bibendum, Bacchus ever fair and young, drink down all unkindness, O that men should put an enemy in their mouths to.

Servility

VB cringe, bow, stoop, kneel, bend the knee, fall on one's knees, prostrate oneself, worship, sneak, crawl, crouch, cower, sponge, truckle to, grovel, fawn, lick the feet of, kiss the hem of one's garment, kiss one's ass, suck up, pay court to, feed on, fatten on, dance attendance on, pin oneself upon, hang on the sleeve of, avaler les couleuvres, keep time to, fetch and carry, do the dirty work of, go with the stream, worship the rising sun, hold with the hare and run with the hounds.

Sponge

N sponge, honeycomb, network, frit, filter, sieve, net, screen (opening), cellular, spongy, spongious, honeycombed, alveolar, sintered, porous (opening).

Moisture

VB moisten, wet, humect, humectate, sponge, damp, bedew, imbue, imbrue, infiltrate, saturate, soak, drench, be moist, not have a dry thread, perspire.

Dryness

VB be dry, render dry, dry, dry up, soak up, sponge, swab, wipe, drain, desiccate, dehydrate, exsiccate, parch, kiln dry, vacuum dry, blow dry, oven dry, hang out to dry, mummify, be fine, hold up.