sponge

American  

[spuhnj] / spʌndʒ /

noun

• sponges
  plural

1. any aquatic, chiefly marine animal of the phylum Porifera, having a porous structure and usually a horny, siliceous or calcareous internal skeleton or framework, occurring in large, sessile colonies.

2. the light, yielding, porous, fibrous skeleton or framework of certain animals or colonies of this group, especially of the genera Spongia and Hippospongia, from which the living matter has been removed, characterized by readily absorbing water and becoming soft when wet while retaining toughness: used in bathing, in wiping or cleaning surfaces, etc.

3. any of various other similar substances, often porous rubber or cellulose, used for washing or cleaning.

4. sponge bath.

5. a person or thing that absorbs something freely.

   His mind is a sponge gathering historical data.

6. a person who persistently borrows from or lives at the expense of others; sponger; parasite.

   Synonyms:

   leech

7. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a habitual drinker of alcohol who is frequently intoxicated.

8. Metallurgy. 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.

9. Surgery. a sterile surgical dressing of absorbent material, usually cotton gauze, for wiping or absorbing pus, blood, or other fluids during a surgical operation.

10. Cooking.

    1. dough raised with yeast, especially before kneading, as for bread.

    2. a light, sweet pudding of a porous texture, made with gelatin, eggs, fruit juice or other flavoring material, etc.

11. a disposable piece of polyurethane foam permeated with a spermicide for insertion into the vagina as a contraceptive.

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verb (used with object)

• sponges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sponged,
  past participle,  past
• sponging
  present participle

1. to wipe or rub with or as with a wet sponge, as to moisten or clean.

   Synonyms:

   wash

2. to remove with or as with a wet sponge (usually followed by off, away, etc.).

3. to wipe out or efface with or as with a sponge (often followed byout ).

4. to take up or absorb with or as with a sponge (often followed byup ).

   to sponge up water.

5. to borrow, use, or obtain by imposing on another's good nature, friendship, hospitality, or the like.

   He sponged 40 bucks from his friend and went to the city.

6. Ceramics. to decorate (a ceramic object) by dabbing at it with a sponge soaked with color.

verb (used without object)

• sponges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sponged,
  past participle,  past
• sponging
  present participle

1. to take in or soak up liquid by absorption.

2. to gather sponges.

3. to live at the expense of others (often followed by on oroff ).

   He came back home and sponged off his family for a while.

idioms

1. throw in the sponge, to concede defeat; yield; give up.

   The early election returns were heavily against him, but he wasn't ready to throw in the sponge.

sponge British  

/ spʌndʒ /

noun

1. 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. a piece of the light porous highly absorbent elastic skeleton of certain sponges, used in bathing, cleaning, etc See also spongin

3. any of a number of light porous elastic materials resembling a sponge

4. another word for sponger

5. informal a person who indulges in heavy drinking

6. leavened dough, esp before kneading

7. See sponge cake

8. Also called: sponge pudding. a light steamed or baked pudding, spongy in texture, made with various flavourings or fruit

9. 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. See throw in

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verb

1. (tr; often foll by off or down) to clean (something) by wiping or rubbing with a damp or wet sponge

2. (tr; usually foll by off, away, out, etc) to remove (marks, etc) by rubbing with a damp or wet sponge or cloth

3. to absorb (liquids, esp when spilt) in the manner of a sponge

4. to get (something) from (someone) by presuming on his generosity

   to sponge a meal off someone

5. (intr; often foll by off or on) to obtain one's subsistence, welfare, etc, unjustifiably (from)

   he sponges off his friends

6. (intr) to go collecting sponges

sponge Scientific  

/ spŭnj /

1. Any of numerous aquatic, chiefly marine invertebrate animals of the phylum Porifera. Sponges characteristically have a porous skeleton, usually containing an intricate system of canals, that is composed of fibrous material or siliceous or calcareous spicules. Water passing through the pores brings food to the organism. Sponges live in all depths of the sea, are sessile, and often form irregularly shaped colonies attached to an underwater surface. Sponges are considered the most primitive members of the animal kingdom, since they lack a nervous system and differentiated body tissues or organs. Adults do not have moving parts, but the larvae are free-swimming. Sponges have great regenerative capacities, with some species able to regenerate a complete adult organism from fragments as small as a single cell. Sponges first appear during the early Cambrian Period and may have evolved from protozoa.

2. Also called poriferan

3. See Note at regeneration

4. The light, fibrous, flexible, absorbent skeleton of certain of these organisms, used for bathing, cleaning, and other purposes.

5. A piece of porous plastic, rubber, cellulose, or other material, similar in absorbency to this skeleton and used for the same purposes.

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sponge More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sponge

• throw in the sponge

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spongeless
  adjective
• spongelike
  adjective
• unsponged
  adjective
• spongingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sponges
  plural

Participles

• sponging
  present
• sponged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sponge
  simple
• sponges
  simple
• have sponged
  perfect
• has sponged
  perfect
• am sponging
  progressive
• are sponging
  progressive
• is sponging
  progressive
• have been sponging
  perfect progressive
• has been sponging
  perfect progressive

Past

• sponged
  simple
• had sponged
  perfect
• was sponging
  progressive
• were sponging
  progressive
• had been sponging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sponge
  simple
• will have sponged
  perfect
• will be sponging
  progressive
• will have been sponging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sponge

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun sponge, spunge, spounge, Old English noun sponge, spunge, from Latin spongia, spongea, from Greek spongiā́; verb from the noun

Explanation

A sponge has holes and soaks up liquid. One kind of sponge is a water-dwelling animal with a soft body and an asymmetrical shape. But the kind of sponge you use to clean the kitchen is usually man-made. The sponge in the kitchen or bath looks a bit like the kind that grows in the ocean, porous and soft. Originally, those sponges were made from dried sea sponge, but it's more common these days for them to be manufactured. If you absorb knowledge or information easily, people may call you a sponge. And if you live off someone else's generosity, taking handouts and giving nothing in return, you sponge off of them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sponge sponges sponged sponging

Kreiz has been involved in major restructurings too and can act as something of a pain sponge for Ellison when the company starts making its cuts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

He smooths the features of the head -- which he says weighs more than a ton -- with a yellow sponge, while another craftsman adds clay to the fingers of the enormous hands.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Haser says survival may have been possible if the moon had an unusually low and relatively uniform density, allowing it to absorb the impact somewhat like a sponge.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Francesca says she eats bread with Nutella for breakfast, a chocolate-filled sponge cake as a snack, pasta with lentils for lunch and usually chicken for dinner.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

My mother is British, but she probably thinks a Victoria sponge is a cleaning product, not an airy cake filled with jam.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

The hero of bog creation, Ms. Turetsky relates, is sphagnum moss, one of nature’s most efficient sponges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The geographic features are hot spots of biodiversity, with corals, sponges and even an octopus garden, just like in the Beatles song.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Environmentalists also say river bank fortifications destroy shallow-water zones where aquatic life and insects breed -- and the adjoining natural floodplains that act like sponges at times of excess water.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Tommy, who used acrylic paint and a mixture of brushes and sponges to achieve different textures, said: 'I just wanted to make something colourful, plus feet are easier to draw than faces!

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

He passed die stairway to the pilothouse and squeezed past the extra cargo, crates of Kalamata olives and olive oil, sea sponges from Kos.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

“Michael sort of sponged off of Gary,” Wellman said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025

The magnesium had an unexpected beneficial effect: It "sponged out" inadvertent impurities in the tantalum and, as a result, raised the temperature at which it operates as a superconductor.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024

Pastor Pam and Jen lowered me gently to the ground, a kneeling, knowledgeable Officer K sponged me to consciousness and remained with me until the Fire Department arrived.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022

Maintenance and repairs sponged up dollars so fast that had lawmakers not acted, no money would have been left for new construction or even to unlock federal matching grants.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 30, 2022

His ancient valet, Johnny Mitchell, bent over him, his tears falling onto Tommy’s cheeks as he gently sponged the mud and blood away.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Alice spends her days cleaning Lady Jemima’s stinky shoes, sponging her underwear and greasing her long blonde hair.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Generative AI is developing so quickly that soon the large-language models sponging up information on the internet will run out of content to feed on.

From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2024

It was Herder who called Europe’s voracious expansionism worldwide “the grand European sponging enterprise.”

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2018

In the movie, it’s easy to identify Kroc as an amoral exploiter, sponging off the labors of Dick and Mac.

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2017

The two ships and their crews had left the sponging waters in mid-April and were now sailing in a channel between the Greek islands of Antikythera and Crete.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Related Words

• boozer
• drunk
• rummy
• tippler
• wino