sponge
sponge [sponge sponges sponged sponging spongeing] noun, verb BrE [spʌndʒ] NAmE [spʌndʒ]
noun 
1. countable a piece of artificial or natural material that is soft and light and full of holes and can hold water easily, used for washing or cleaning
•a bath sponge (= to wash your body with in the bath)
• (figurative)His mind was like a sponge, ready to absorb anything.
2. uncountable artificial sponge used for filling furniture, ↑cushions, etc.
3. countable a simple sea creature with a light body full of holes, from which natural sponge is obtained
4. countable, uncountable (BrE) = ↑sponge cake
•a chocolate sponge
Word Origin:
Old English (in sense 1 of the noun), via Latin from Greek spongia, later form of spongos, reinforced in Middle English by Old French esponge.
Example Bank:
•Wipe the surface with a damp sponge.
verb
1. transitive ~ sb/yourself/sth (down) to wash sb/yourself/sth with a wet cloth or ↑sponge
Syn: ↑wipe
•She sponged his hot face.
•Take your jacket off and I'll sponge it down with water.
2. transitive ~ sth + adv./prep. to remove sth using a wet cloth or ↑sponge
Syn: ↑wash
•We tried to sponge the blood off my shirt.
3. intransitive ~ (off/on sb) (informal, disapproving)to get money, food, etc. regularly from other people without doing anything for them or offering to pay
Syn: ↑scrounge
•He spent his life sponging off his relatives.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English (in sense 1 of the noun), via Latin from Greek spongia, later form of spongos, reinforced in Middle English by Old French esponge.
Example Bank:
•Take your jacket off and I'll sponge it down with water.
|
|
