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sponger

[spuhn-jer]
See more synonyms for sponger on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person or thing that sponges.
  2. a person who habitually borrows or lives at the expense of others; parasite.
  3. a person or boat engaged in gathering sponges.
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Origin of sponger

First recorded in 1670–80; sponge + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sponger

Historical Examples

  • The Greek sponger 'Zenephone' was passing when she went under.

    The Boy Chums in the Gulf of Mexico

    Wilmer M. Ely

  • He checked the flood of thanks on the sponger captain's lips.

  • "We'll mow 'em down," said No. 1, the sponger and rammer, a boy of twenty.

    In Hostile Red

    Joseph Altsheler

  • No. 1, the sponger and rammer, had been killed by a pistol-shot.

    In Hostile Red

    Joseph Altsheler

  • At last word came that the sponger had struck on the nearby shoals.

British Dictionary definitions for sponger

sponger

noun
  1. informal a person who lives off other people by continually taking advantage of their generosity; parasite or scrounger
  2. a person or ship employed in collecting sponges
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012