sponge

Meanings

Noun

• Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
• A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).
• A porous material such as sponges consist of.
• A heavy drinker.
• A type of light cake.
• A type of steamed pudding.
• 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).
• A person who readily absorbs ideas.
• A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
• Any sponge-like substance.
• 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 extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
• A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.

Verb

• To take advantage of the kindness of others.
• To get by imposition; to scrounge.
• To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.
• To clean, soak up, or dab with a sponge.
• To suck in, or imbibe, like a sponge.
• To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.
• To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
• To use a piece of wild sponge as a tool when foraging for food.

Origin

• From Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek σπογγιά, related to σπόγγος.