sponger

[spuhn-jer]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sponger ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person or thing that sponges.

a person who habitually borrows or lives at the expense of others; parasite.

a person or boat engaged in gathering sponges.

Origin of sponger

First recorded in 1670–80; sponge + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sponger

waster, wanderer, malingerer, slouch, lazybones, good-for-nothing, wastrel, idler, deadbeat, do-nothing, slacker, sluggard, shirker, beachcomber, lounger, goof-off, sponger, bum, sponge

Examples from the Web for sponger

Historical Examples of sponger

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.
The Boy Chums in the Gulf of Mexico
Wilmer M. Ely
"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.
The Boy Scouts of the Life Saving Crew
Robert Shaler

British Dictionary definitions for sponger

sponger

noun

informal a person who lives off other people by continually taking advantage of their generosity; parasite or scrounger

a person or ship employed in collecting sponges

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