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sponge

Pronunciation: /spʌnd͡ʒ/

The English word “sponge” has 20 meanings listed here.

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 A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).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. 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.
  11. Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
  12. Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
  13. 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.
  14. The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
  15. A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.

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.

Etymology

From Middle English sponge, from Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), from σπόγγος (spóngos). Displaced native Old English swamm (“fungus, sponge”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.