spongenoun/spʌnd͡ʒ/

• 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  A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).

  • She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination. The elder woman returned with dressings and a sponge, which she placed on a chair.
• 3

  The porous material that synthetic washing sponges are made of.

• 4

  informalA heavy drinker.

• 5

  A type of light cake.

  • After six hours of work I got this amazing sponge with fresh strawberries, crème fraîche, crème chantilly, custard, crumble and meringues, something quite rich and outstanding.
• 6

  A type of steamed pudding.

• 7

  slangA 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.

  • For this reason, we need to think of our children as sponges of information and watch their sources carefully. We also need to always model appropriate behaviour, as we are a constant source of new information.

spongeverb/spʌnd͡ʒ/

• 1

  slangTo take advantage of the kindness of others.

  • The fly is an intruder, and a common smell-feast, that spunges upon other Peoples Trenchers.
  • You can’t go on spunging upon the women.
• 2

  To get by imposition; to scrounge.

  • “[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.
  • July 17 1735, Jonathan Swift, letter to Lord Ornery I am an utter stranger to the persons and places, except when half a score come to sponge on me every Sunday evening
• 3

  To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.

  • How came such multitudes of our nation […] to be sponged of their plate and their money?
• 4

  To clean, soak up, or dab with a sponge.

  • Before stepping into the bath the head should be wet with cold water, and in the bath the pit of the stomach should first be sponged.
• 5

  To suck in, or imbibe, like a sponge.

• 6

  To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.

  • Lett the eyes which have looked on Idols, sponge out their unlawfull acts
• 7

  bakingcookingfoodTo be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.

• 8

  To use a piece of wild sponge as a tool when foraging for food.

  • Why do dolphins sponge instead of foraging in a more "normal" way?
  • Sponging is worth thinking about in some detail because it illustrates many of the challenges and sources of controversy in studying social learning and culture in wild cetaceans.