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”).
Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
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A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).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.1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
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The porous material that synthetic washing sponges are made of.
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.2021 June 10, Marianna Giusti, “Kean Etro: ‘We basically turned paper into trees’”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2021:
Slang 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).
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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.2014, Phoeve Hutchison, Are You Listening? Life Is Talking to You!, page 145:
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A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
› Any sponge-like substance.
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Baking, Cooking, Food, Lifestyle 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.
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Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
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Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
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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.
The great guns ranged along the deck — each bound fast by its new breechings — with their linstocks and sponges and ladles and rammers, made no idle show of warlike strength.1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 6:
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The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
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Slang A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.
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”).
Slang To take advantage of the kindness of others.
The fly is an intruder, and a common smell-feast, that spunges upon other Peoples Trenchers.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
You can’t go on spunging upon the women.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 32, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
1 more example
He has been sponging off his friends for a month now.
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To get by imposition; to scrounge.
Intransitive with on or upon
“[…] 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.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
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
1 more example
to sponge a breakfast
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To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.
How came such multitudes of our nation […] to be sponged of their plate and their money?1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
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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.1876, Eliza Bisbee Duffey, Our Behaviour: A Manual of Etiquette and Dress of the Best American Society, Philadelphia:
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To suck in, or imbibe, like a sponge.
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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[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
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Baking, Cooking, Food, Lifestyle To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
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Of dolphins 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?2013, Pamela S. Turner, The Dolphins of Shark Bay, page 22:
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.2015, Hal Whitehead, Luke Rendell, The Cultural Lives of Whales and, page 109:
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Moreover, the females that do it seem to "sponge" relentlessly throughout the day, hunting more than other females and more than male spongers too.2017, Janet Mann, Deep Thinkers: Inside the Minds of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises, page 153: