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sponge

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A piece of porous material used for washing.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

spuhnj
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈspʌndʒ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. countable

    A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).

  2. 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

  3. countable

    Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.

  4. countableuncountable

    A type of light cake.

  5. A person who readily absorbs ideas.

  6. Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.

verb

  1. Ask for and get free; be a parasite

  2. transitiveintransitive with on or upon

    To get by imposition; to scrounge.

  3. transitive

    To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.

  4. To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.

  5. intransitiveslang

    To take advantage of the kindness of others.

  6. Wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

More ways to use sponge

  • “She soaks up foreign languages like a sponge.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Porous / various

sponge rubber

Light

sponge cake

Other combinations

sponge bathcontraceptive spongewet spongesponge irondamp spongesmall sponge

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • sponge bagnounCompound term

    A waterproof bag for holding bathrooms items (soap and toothpaste etc.) when you are travelling.

  • sponge bathnounCompound term

    You wash your body with a sponge or washcloth instead of in a bathtub.

  • sponge cakenounCompound term

    A light porous cake made with eggs and flour and sugar without shortening.

  • sponge clothnounCompound term

    Any soft porous fabric (especially in a loose honeycomb weave).

  • sponge downverbCompound term

    Clean with a sponge, by rubbing.

  • sponge gourdnounCompound term

    Any of several tropical annual climbers having large yellow flowers and edible young fruits.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.