Library / English Dictionary

SPONGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs in sessile colonies

Synonyms:

parazoan; poriferan; sponge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("sponge" is a kind of...):

invertebrate (any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sponge"):

glass sponge (a siliceous sponge (with glassy spicules) of the class Hyalospongiae)

Holonyms ("sponge" is a member of...):

phylum Porifera; Porifera (coextensive with the subkingdom Parazoa: sponges)

Derivation:

sponge (gather sponges, in the ocean)

spongy (easily squashed; resembling a sponge in having soft porous texture and compressibility)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage

Synonyms:

leech; parasite; sponge; sponger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("sponge" is a kind of...):

follower (a person who accepts the leadership of another)

Derivation:

sponge (ask for and get free; be a parasite)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone able to acquire new knowledge and skills rapidly and easily

Example:

she soaks up foreign languages like a sponge

Synonyms:

quick study; sponge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("sponge" is a kind of...):

assimilator; learner; scholar (someone (especially a child) who learns (as from a teacher) or takes up knowledge or beliefs)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("sponge" is a kind of...):

absorbent; absorbent material (a material having capacity or tendency to absorb another substance)

Derivation:

sponge (gather sponges, in the ocean)

sponge (wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten)

sponge (soak up with a sponge)

sponge (erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard)

spongy (like a sponge in being able to absorb liquids and yield it back when compressed)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Gather sponges, in the ocean

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sponge" is one way to...):

collect; garner; gather; pull together (assemble or get together)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

In the summer they like to go out and sponge

Derivation:

sponge (primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs in sessile colonies)

sponge (a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used)

sponger (a workman employed to collect sponges)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sponge" is one way to...):

pass over; wipe (rub with a circular motion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sponge (a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Soak up with a sponge

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sponge" is one way to...):

mop; mop up; wipe up (to wash or wipe with or as if with a mop)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sponge (a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sponge" is one way to...):

efface; erase; rub out; score out; wipe off (remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sponge (a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Ask for and get free; be a parasite

Synonyms:

bum; cadge; grub; mooch; sponge

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "sponge" is one way to...):

obtain (come into possession of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sponge"):

freeload (live off somebody's generosity)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sponge; sponger (a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A potent alpha galactosylceramide modified from marine-sponge that stimulates the immune system to exhibit antitumor activity.

(Alpha Galactosylceramide, NCI Thesaurus)

In their model, they found there can be enough oxygen for microbes throughout Mars, and enough for simple sponges in oases near the poles.

(Simple animals could live in Martian brines, Wikinews)

A liposome-encapsulated formulation of the mesylate salt form of eribulin, a synthetic, macrocyclic ketone analogue of halichondrin B, a substance derived from the marine sponge genus Halichondria, with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Liposomal Eribulin Mesylate, NCI Thesaurus)

I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They ain't nothin' but scrap. No throwin' up the sponge.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

By doing so, these plastic pellets become sponges for dirt, acting as vectors of the organic compounds, spreading pollution of marine wildlife, and reducing their growth, reproduction and mobility.

(Microplastic pollution adds to oceans’ problems, scidev.net)

I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The basic movements of the material, shaped into films, sponges, and hydrogels, are induced by nearby permanent or electromagnets and can exhibit as bending, twisting, and expansion.

(New Materials Developed by Scientists Able to Move in Response to Light, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

An orally available nutritional supplement and proprietary formulation containing extracts from the sea cucumber, sea sponge, shark fin, sea urchin and the marine grass Sargassum, with potential antioxidant, antitumor, anti-angiogenic and immunomodulating activities.

(Nutraceutical TBL-12, NCI Thesaurus)

She had by this time drawn the chair to her side, and was busily engaged in producing from the bag (plunging in her short arm to the shoulder, at every dive) a number of small bottles, sponges, combs, brushes, bits of flannel, little pairs of curling-irons, and other instruments, which she tumbled in a heap upon the chair.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)