sponge

Etymology

From Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), related to σπόγγος (spóngos).

noun

1. (countable) Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
2. (countable) A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).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
3. (uncountable) A porous material such as sponges consist of.
4. (informal) A heavy drinker.
5. (countable, uncountable) A type of light cake.
6. (countable, uncountable, Britain) A type of steamed pudding.
7. (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).
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. 2014, Phoeve Hutchison, Are You Listening? Life Is Talking to You!, page 145
9. (countable) A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
10. Any sponge-like substance.
    1. (baking) 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.
    2. Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
    3. Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
11. 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.
12. The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
13. (slang) A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.

verb

1. (intransitive, slang) To take advantage of the kindness of others.
   He has been sponging off his friends for a month now.
2. (transitive, intransitive with on or upon) To get by imposition; to scrounge.
   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
   to sponge a breakfast
3. (transitive) To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.
4. To clean, soak up, or dab with a sponge.
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.
7. (intransitive, baking) To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
8. (marine biology, 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
   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