▪ I. sponge, n.1
(spʌndʒ)
Forms: α. 1– sponge (2 spunge). β. (Chiefly north. and Sc.) 4–7 spounge, 5 spoungge, spwnge, 5–6 spownge, 6 spoung, 6, 9 spoonge. γ. 6–9 spunge, 7 spundge.
[OE. sponge (acc. -ean) and spunge (spiunge), ad. L. spongia, spongea, a. Gr. σπογγιά, later derivative form of σπόγγος sponge. In other Teutonic languages the word appears as OS. spunsia, MDu. spongie, sponge, sponse (WFlem. sponsie, Du. spons, WFris. spons, spouns), and in the Romanic group as OF. esponge (16th cent. in Littré), F. éponge, Sp. and Pg. esponja, It. spugna.
OE. had also the more popular and older form spynge, spinge.]
I. 1. a. The soft, light, porous, and easily compressible framework which remains after the living matter has been removed from various species of porifers (see 3), characterized by readily absorbing fluids and yielding them on pressure, and much used in bathing, cleansing surfaces, etc.
In older Sc. use (see β) app. also ‘a brush’.
| α c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 48 Ða hrædlice arn an heora & ᵹenam ane spongean [c 1160 ænne spongen], & fylde hiᵹ mid ecede. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Mk. xv. 36 Þa arn hyre an & fylde ane spunge mid eisile. a 1225 Ancr. R. 262 Nes his pitaunce o rode bute a sponge of galle. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 185 Sponges i-watred and i-holde at hir nostrilles. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 26 In þe mornyng be it clensed with hote watre and a sponge. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 88 Sponges grete ij and small xxvj. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §44 Than washe your shepe there-with, with a sponge or a pece of an olde mantell. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 204 b, The Crosse,..Nayles, Sponge, launce, Crowne of thorne. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Del. ii. v. (1635) 68 Others againe..suppose the earth to bee like a sponge to drinke vp the water. 1676 L'Estrange Seneca's Mor., Anger xii. (1696) 423 He..caus'd their Mouths to be stopt with Sponges. 1800 Med. Jrnl. III. 556, I have constantly recommended cold vinegar..to be applied..by means of a sponge. 1863 Ansted Ionian Isl. 255 A considerable fishery for fine sponges, of which many, fully equal to fine Turkey sponges, come into the market. 1876 Harley Royle's Mat. Med. 783 The Sponge is imported from the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. |
| β 1388 Wyclif Mark xv. 36 And oon ranne, and fillide a spounge with vynegre. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 [Þai] held to þaire noses spoungez moisted with water. 1483 Cath. Angl. 356/1 A Spoungge.., spongia. 1491 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 188 For a spwnge to the Kingis claythis, ij s. 1501 Ibid. II. 27 Byrs spowngis for the Kingis bonatis, vj d. 1549 Ibid. IX. 353 Item, ane spoung send to Dunfermeling to his graces sone, iiij s. 1612 Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 329 Spounges or brushes. |
| γ 1572 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 180 For spunges for snoballs. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 425 The Spunge is full of water, yet is it not seene. 1661 J. Childrey Brit. Bacon. 41 An earth porous like a spunge. 1726 Pope Odyss. xx. 189 And let the abstersive spunge the board renew. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 259 To wipe it dry with a spunge. |
| fig. 1602 How Chuse Good Wife v. ii, For her death The spunge of either eye Shall weep red tears. 1622 Donne Serm. xvi. 159 Every man is but a spunge, and but a spunge filled with teares. 1726 Bolingbroke Study Hist. vii. (1752) I. 265 Colbert made the most of all these advantageous circumstances, and whilst he filled the national spunge, he taught his successors how to squeeze it. |
| transf. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 271 With flew or wooll of Hares..the Grecians made spunges..to clense the eies of men. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Pyrotechnical Spunges are made of the large Mushrooms or fungous Excrescences growing on old Oaks, Ashes, Firs, &c. |
b. As a type of something of small value.
| 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 329 Collecting toys, And trifles for choice matters, worth a spunge. |
c. to throw (or chuck) up the sponge, to abandon a contest or struggle; to submit, give in.
colloq.| 1860 Slang Dict. 224 ‘To throw up the sponge,’ to submit, give over the struggle,—from the practice of throwing up the sponge used to cleanse the combatants' faces, at a prize⁓fight, as a signal that the ‘mill’ is concluded. 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It xlvii. 333 One of the boys has gone up the flume..throwed up the sponge..kicked the bucket..he's dead! 1874 Trollope Phineas Redux I. xxxix. 325 When..Thursday afternoon came, Mr. Daubeny ‘threw up the sponge’. 1877 T. A. Trollope Life Pius IX, II. 130 This tranquil confidence..degenerated..into inertness, acquiescence in evil, and..throwing up the sponge. 1889 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxiv, If Tim had got this letter..he'd have chucked up the sponge and cleared out for good and all. |
2. Without article: The material of which this is composed.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxviii. (Tollem. MS.), It is made harde and turneþ in to sponge. 1683 Salmon Doron Med. i. 110 If for Application by Spunge, Cloath, or Stuph. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., A pound of spunge.., on drying carefully.., will be reduced to eleven ounces. Ibid., Burnt spunge is much recommended as a sweetner of the blood. 1813 T. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 345 The tent was formed of prepared sponge. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 382/2 Inferior sponge, with a large-holed texture, called horse sponge. |
| transf. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2286/1 Artificial sponge is made of caoutchouc [etc.]. |
3. a. Zool. One or other of various species of aquatic (chiefly marine) animals (or colony of animals) of a low order belonging to the group
Porifera, characterized by a tough elastic skeleton of interlaced fibres.
| 1538 Elyot, Achilleum, a sponge, whiche is verye softe, and hath smalle holes. 1552 Ibid., Cystiolithi, certayne stones, whiche growe in spunges, holsome against diseases of the bladder. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Providence xxxiv, Frogs marry fish and flesh; bats, bird and beast; Sponges, non-sense and sense. 1651 Jer. Taylor Course Serm. i. 4 We are no more such really, then Mandrakes are Men, or Spunges are living creatures. 1725 Family Dict. s.v., The Ancients would have a Spunge to be Zoophite. Ibid., There are two sorts of Spunges, the Male..and the Female. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 289 Here are seen the madrepores, the sponges, mosses, sea mushrooms, and other marine productions. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 11 It is a kind of sponge, which has the same form as the body. 1857 Livingstone Trav. xiv. 249 Around the reeds..we see fresh-water sponges. 1884 Goode Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim. 843 Nearly all Sponges possess a skeleton or the rudiments of one. |
b. With distinguishing terms, denoting various species of these.
glass-rope sponge,
glass-sponge: see
glass n.1 16.
| 1681 Grew Musæum ii. v. ii. 251 The Hollow Cylindrick or Pipe-Sponge. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., 9. The branched river-spunge. 10. The hairy spunge. 11. The sail spunge [etc.] 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 708 Branched sponge;..cock's comb sponge;..tow-sponge [etc.]. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. ii. 89 Fine Syrian Sponge... Fine Archipelago Sponge... White Sponge of Syria, called also Venetian Sponge. 1883 Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 49 The finest type of all, the Levant toilet or Turkish cup⁓sponge (Spongia officinalis). |
† c. sponge of the river: (see
quot.).
Obs.| 1611 Cotgr., Esponge d'eau douce, a certaine hearbe, that flotes on riuers, and is called, Spunge of the riuer. |
4. a. A moistened piece of the above substance (sense 1) as used for wiping a surface in order to obliterate writing, etc. Also in
fig. context.
| 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 196 The leaues, wheron they wryte with any sharpe instrument, and blotte the same againe with a spunge or sum suche other thynge. 1591 Spenser Ruins Time 361 Great ones.., Of whome no word we heare, nor signe now see, But as things wipt out with a sponge to perishe. 1644 Sir E. Dering Prop. Sacr. c iiij b, Clavis Mystica under-went a great deal of Spunge. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 216 The hand-writing against us is not blotted out, yet..we have a sponge given us to wipe it away ourselves. 1865 M. E. Braddon Only a Clod iv, Do you think two years' absence won't act as a sponge, and wipe my image out of her thoughts. 1867 Goldw. Smith 3 Eng. Statesm. (1882) 212 No great nature ever passes a sponge over its former self. |
b. fig. That which blots out of existence, wipes out of memory, effaces, etc.
| 1558 Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. xviii. 117 Daylye confession..is..a sponge to wype awaye the fylthynesse of oure synnes. 1657 Trapp Comm. Ezra ix. 7 Confession..is that happy Spunge, that wipeth out all the blottes and blurres of our lives. 1748 Geddes Composit. Antients 268 Fear, grief, pain, and desire, are the most effectual spunges. 1799 H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 36 Which fits of charity are made the sponge of every sin, and the substitute of every virtue. |
c. A method of cancelling or wiping off debts without payment.
| 1717 (title), Fair Payment no Spunge: or, some Considerations on the Unreasonableness of Refusing to Receive back Money Lent on Publick Securities. 1753 Hanway Trav. i. vii. (1762) II. 40 We have an example in France..of a large national debt being paid with a sponge. 1787 Bentham Def. Usury xii. 124 A spunge..is the only needful and only availing remedy. 1803 Cobbett in Pol. Reg. (1817) 8 Feb. 176 Your tax upon the funds, or..that admirable sponge which you are now about to apply to one twentieth part of the debt. |
5. A kind of mop or swab for cleansing a cannon-bore after firing.
| a 1625 Nomencl. Navalis (MS. Harl. 2301) s.v., The spunge of a peece of Ordnaunce is that which makes it cleane; they are comonlie Sheepeskins putt at the ende of a Staffe. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 66 A Spunge is such another staffe, with a peece of a Lambe skin at the end.., to thrust vp and downe the Peece. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. xii. 45 A Gunner..ought to have in readiness..Sheep-skins to make Spunges. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine s.v. Cannon, In the land-service, the handle of the spunge is nothing else than a long wooden staff. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 292 For a long gun, the sponge and rammer are fixed each on a separate staff. 1884 ‘H. Collingwood’ (W. J. C. Lancaster) Under Meteor Flag 40 A sponge was thrust out of one of the upper deck ports, catching him in the face. |
II. 6. † a. The fibrous matted root of asparagus shoots.
Obs.| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 233 This seedis [of asparagus] wol connect intil oon roote, This calle a sponge. 1563 T. Hill Art Garden. (1593) 58 The small rootes will be so folded and tyed one to an other, that they will seeme to be fastned and ioyned togither in one, and this is named of the ancient Gardner, a Spunge. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 54 The rootes haue sundry long threeds, which they call the Spoonge. |
b. A spongy gall or excrescence on rose-bushes;
= bedeguar 2.
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 97 A certaine little Worme which is found in the sponge of the Dogge-bryer (called of the Physitions Bedeguar). 1698 Phil. Trans. XX. 464 In brief, it is nothing else but the Sponge of the Dogs Rose, called by some Bedeguar. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. v. 153 Bedeguars—commonly called ‘Soft Apples’ or ‘Vegetable Sponges’. |
c. Something having the appearance or consistency of a sponge.
| 1683 K. Digby Chym. Secr. 12 The ☉ and ☿ will be precipitated indistinguishible, in the form of a black Spunge. 1893 F. F. Moore Gray Eye or So xxvii, Sitting for five or six hours on gigantic sponges (damp) of heather. |
d. The soft fermenting dough of which bread is made. Freq. in the
phr. to set (or lay) the sponge.
| 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery (ed. 2) xvii. 297 To make White Bread..when your Spunge has stood its proper Time clear the Oven, and begin to make your Bread. 1796 A. Simmons Amer. Cookery 38 Butter biscuit. One pint each milk and emptins, laid into flour, in sponge. 1822 Imison's Sci. & Art II. 152 This is called setting the sponge. 1830 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. I. 355 To this strained matter, one half of the whole quantity of flour is to be added, and well worked up with the hands so as to form sponge. 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. 113 The mass swells up, or, as the baker terms it, the sponge rises. 1896 T. Hardy Jude v. iii, He was obliged to go to bed at night immediately after laying the sponge. |
e. A stretch of ground of a swampy nature.
| 1856 Olmsted Slave States 157, I am aware of but a single attempt, as yet, to cultivate the sponge or true swamp soil. 1890 Contemp. Rev. Jan. 137 The ‘great sponge’, from which the Zambesi and the Congo draw their remote supplies. 1901 Q. Rev. July 22 It has been conjectured that some of these sponges may be fed by the waters of the Victoria Nyanza. |
f. techn. Metal in a porous or sponge-like form,
usu. obtained by reduction without fusion.
| 1861 Sir W. Fairbairn Iron 176 M. Chenot makes steel direct from the ore by converting it into a substance he calls sponge, in a peculiarly constructed furnace. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 389 To remove the silver sponge, which falls to the bottom and is taken out. This sponge is very light. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 844 The sponge..is plunged in a bath of resin, tar, or some fatty matter. |
g. With defining word: a type of thick jelly eaten as a dessert.
| 1859 J. H. Walsh Eng. Cookery Bk. 275 Lemon sponge... Take half an ounce of isinglass..the juice of eight lemons. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 55/1 Sweets..Lemon Sponge, Raspberry Sponge (in copper moulds, 10/0 extra, returnable). 1978 E. Lothian Country House Cookery from West 19 Orange sponge. 1 oz (30 g) gelatine. 4 oranges. |
h. A sponge-cake; the mixture from which such a cake is made.
| 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 920/1 Sponge, Savoy,..pour the batter gently into a mould. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 55/2 Golf Sponge, iced chocolate, coffee, pink or white..each of 0/11. 1917 Harrods Gen. Catal. 1269/2 Sponge Swiss Roll..per lb. 1/8... Caracas Roll (Rich Chocolate Sponge)..per lb. 1/10. 1948 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. ii. 447 Steamed sponge puddings. Ibid. 579 Genoese Sponge (basic recipe) 3 oz. butter 2½ oz. flour ½ oz. cornflour 3 large eggs 4 oz. caster sugar. 1960 R. Daniel Death by Drowning v. 54 A jam sponge, please. 1975 Times 10 May 13/4 The mixture can be baked..as a sponge flan. |
† 7. An open-work coat of mail.
Obs.—1| 1600 Holland Livy ix. xl. 344 Their brest and stomack was fenced with spounges, the left leg armed with a good greeue. |
III. fig. 8. An immoderate drinker; a soaker.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 108, I will doe any thing Nerrissa ere I will be married to a spunge. 1693 Bowles in Dryden's Juvenal v. 34 For him is kept a Liquor more Divine, You Spunges must be drunk with Lees of Wine. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 73. 2/2 For ever too th' Amphibious Spunge does drink. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Spunge, a thirsty fellow, a great drinker. 1887 Henley Villon's Good-night 3 You spunges miking round the pubs. |
9. a. One who or that which absorbs, drains, or sucks up, in a sponge-like manner.
In various passages of Elizabethan writers the exact sense of the word is not quite clear.
| 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 63/1 These senslesse spunges of Improbity Are full of pleasure, but it is vnright. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass xii. (1664) 130 We count a Melancholick man the very Spunge of all sad Humors. 1677 Otway Cheats of Scapin ii. i, Do ye not see every Day how the Spunges [sc. the lawyers] suck poor Clients. 1755 Young Centaur iii. Wks. 1757 IV. 168 Our thirsty spunges of sensuality, who suck up every drop of it. 1891 O. W. Holmes Over Teacups viii. 181 The muscles are great sponges that suck up and make use of large quantities of blood. 1893 Saltus Madam Sapphira 219 After hours of that sponge for thought [sc. fatigue] which the saddle alone supplies. |
b. spec. One who or that which appropriates or absorbs material or other advantages, wealth, etc.
| 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. xl. Cc iv, This spunge sucketh dry the commerce of societies. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. ii. 12 Rosin. Take you me for a Spundge, my Lord? Ham. I sir, that sokes vp the Kings Countenances, his Rewards, his Authorities. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §162 Ireland, which had been a Spunge to draw..all that could be got from England. |
c. A person, etc., of this kind as a source from which something may be recovered or extracted.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. ii. 22 It is but squeezing you, and Spundge you shall be dry againe. a 1618 Raleigh Prerog. Parl. 9 The people,..when they saw hee had squeased those spunges of the Common-wealth,..willingly yeelded to giue him satisfaction. c 1670 Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1681) 156 Empson and Dudley were no Favourites of Hen. the 7th, but Spunges, which King Hen. the 8th did well squeeze. 1722–7 Boyer Dict. Royal i, Presser l'éponge,..to squeeze the Spunge, to make one refund. 1779 Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 256 He is a sponge full of knowledge, which you may squeeze at your leisure. |
d. An object of extortion; a source of profit or pecuniary advantage.
| 1625 Purchas Pilgrims II. 1480 Which make Merchants to conceale their Riches lest they should be made Spunges. 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlem. (1641) 31 Another not so proud as covetous:..such an one makes all his inferiours his sponges. 1781 Cowper Expost. 531 Thy monarchs..in distress Found thee a goodly sponge for Power to press. 1821 Examiner 744/1 Ireland has been made all along a sponge for sinecurists, a field for jobbers. 1835 James Gipsy ii, I will be no sponge to be squeezed for any man's pleasure. |
10. One who meanly lives at the expense of others; a parasite, a sponger.
| 1838 Stephens Trav. Turkey 36 As I could only contribute [to the meal] a couple of rolls of bread,..I am inclined to think that he considered me rather a sponge. 1866 Whipple Character & Charact. Men 22 That large..class of our fellow-citizens who are commonly included in the genus ‘sponge’. 1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. 350 All social sponges; all satellites of the court; all beggars of the market-place. |
IV. attrib. and
Comb. 11. a. Attrib. in various uses, as
sponge-bag,
sponge-bank,
sponge-basin,
sponge-bath,
sponge-bed,
sponge box, etc.
The number of such combs. in recent use is very large, chiefly in the senses ‘forming part of, found in, sponges’, ‘producing or yielding sponges’, ‘used in fishing for sponges’, ‘used or intended for holding a sponge’.
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Sponge-bag, an oil-skin case for a toilet sponge. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 333 Then we went..to see the *sponge-bank, where some of the finest specimens of sponge are procured. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 5825, *Sponge basin, soap box. |
| 1859 Habits of Gd. Society i. (new ed.) 106 The best bath for general purposes..is a *sponge bath. |
| 1883 in Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 55 The complete exhaustion of the *sponge beds. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 310 It is through this strait that many if not most of the *sponge⁓boats go. |
| 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 191/2 *Sponge box for travelling, patent aluminium. 1970 Canadian Antiques Collector Oct. 18/2 Similar trifles for feminine use included snuff boxes, sponge boxes and bodkin cases. |
| 1849 Ann. Nat. Hist. IV. 87 When living and isolated the *sponge-cell is polymorphous. |
| 1883 Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 7 A new *sponge-field was discovered last year. |
| 1867 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 57/2 The number of men employed in the Ottoman *sponge-fishery is between 4000 and 5000. |
| 1855 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 2) 28 To this contractile substance..he [M. Dujardin] proposed to give provisionally the name of Halisarca (*sponge-flesh). |
| 1883 Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 53 To..protect the selected *sponge grounds from robbery. |
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 128 Drilling through their pores or *spung⁓holes. Ibid. 185 Any little spungholes or crannies. |
| 1883 Adderley Fisheries Bahamas 6 They are taken to Nassau to be sold in the *sponge-market. |
| 1870 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. v. 70 The so-called ‘*sponge-particles’ or ‘sarcoids’. |
| 1889 Science-Gossip XXV. 230 Sometimes casts of the exhalant *sponge pores were made in chalcedony overlaid with quartz. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 821 The free bleeding will be staunched by *sponge-pressure. |
| 1878 Huxley Physiogr. xvi. 271 A highly fossiliferous limestone with..*sponge spicules. |
| 1885 J. E. Taylor Brit. Fossils i. 17 The various appearances of *sponge structure under the microscope. |
| 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 429/2 Recent statistics as to the extent of the *sponge trade. |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6130, *Sponge tray, soap boxes. |
| 1848 Carpenter Anim. Phys. ii. 113 The class of Porifera, or the *Sponge tribe. |
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 689/1 Within the trabeculæ of the *sponge-work blood circulates. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 266 The blood-vessels form an expressible sponge-work. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 310 Many *sponge-yards, where the process of cleaning and drying sponges is carried on. |
b. In the sense ‘made of sponge’.
| 1859 Semple Diphtheria 248 The *sponge-brush is moistened with the caustic liquid. |
| 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 490 A rapid series of shocks may thus be communicated..by means of the *sponge directors. |
| 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 27/1 Its interior may be..cleaned by..running *sponge-rammers through the..straight pipes. |
| 1739 S. Sharp Treat. Surgery p. xxi, A piece of *Sponge-Tent, which is made by dipping a dry bit of Sponge in melted Wax [etc.]. 1803 Med. Jrnl. X. 490 Keeping the abscess open by means of a sponge tent. 1876 Trans. Clinical Soc. IX. 106 Sponge-tents are to be used to dilate the wound. |
12. Comb. a. Parasynthetic, as
sponge-coloured,
sponge-footed,
sponge-leaved, etc.
b. With agent-nouns, as
sponge-diver,
sponge-fisher,
sponge-maker, etc.
c. With
vbl. ns. and
ppl. adjs., as
sponge-bearing,
sponge-farming,
sponge-fishing, etc.
| a. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Pine, Spunge-leaved Pine. 1826–7 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVIII. 580 Fluviatile, sponge-shaped. 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 33 A very curious sponge-coloured slab of stalagmitic marble. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 26 Apr. 1/3 The silent sponge-footed camels. |
| b. 1788 6th Rep. Dep. Kpr. Pub. Rec. ii. 179 Henry Cook,..Spunge Maker. 1858 Homans Cycl. Comm. 1751 The principal sponge-fishers of the Archipelago and Levant. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. II. 238 The sponge-divers in the Archipelago. 1887 Pall Mall G. 23 Feb. 9/1 The prisoner..was a sponge trimmer. |
| c. 1861 E. A. Beaufort Egypt. Sepulchres II. 334 The sponge-gathering is a very lucrative business. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2286/1 On the Barbary coast sponge-fishing is..actively prosecuted. 1885 J. E. Taylor Brit. Fossils i. 16 Fossil sponge-hunting. Ibid. 23 Sponge-bearing chalk-flints. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 428/2 The method of sponge-farming. |
13. a. Special
Combs.:
sponge-bag trousers, a pair of men's checked trousers, patterned in the style of many sponge-bags;
sponge biscuit, a flour-biscuit of a similar composition to sponge-cake;
sponge cloth, (
a) (see
quots.); (
b) a thin piece of spongy material used for cleaning; (
c) a type of cotton fabric (see
quot. 1957);
sponge-finger, an elongated form of sponge-biscuit;
sponge-glass, a device for discovering sponges at the bottom of the sea;
sponge-gold, gold as it remains after the silver has been removed in the process of ‘parting’;
sponge-head, the top of an artillery sponge-staff;
sponge-hook, a hook with which sponges are pulled up from the sea-bottom;
sponge-iron, iron ore rendered light and porous by the removal of foreign matter;
sponge mixture, (
a) a packet of prepared dry ingredients for making a sponge-cake; (
b) the ingredients of a sponge-cake mixed together ready for baking;
sponge-pole = sponge-staff (b);
sponge rubber, liquid rubber latex processed into a sponge-like substance;
freq. attrib.;
sponge sandwich, a sponge-cake consisting of two halves sandwiched together with a filling; in earlier use, covered with custard and eaten as a pudding;
sponge-staff, (
a) the staff of an artillery sponge; (
b) the staff of a sponge-hook;
† sponge-stone (see
quots.);
sponge-swamp (see sense 6 e).
| 1915 V. Woolf Voyage Out xxiii. 376 Can't you imagine him—bald as a coot with a pair of *sponge-bag trousers? 1977 A. J. Ayer Part of My Life ii. 35 The members of Pop also had the privileges..of wearing coloured waistcoats, sponge-bag trousers, braid on their tail-coats, flowers in their button-holes and sealing wax on their top-hats. |
| 1736 Bailey Househ. Dict. s.v. Biscuit, To make *Spunge Biscuit. 1837 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 18 Mar. (1966) 10 Aunt L. has..expressed a strong wish to hear ‘her dear little voice once again’ and has a spunge biscuit behind her pillow this 4 days to give her. 1892 T. F. Garrett Encycl. Pract. Cookery 147/1 Sponge Biscuit.—Beat ten eggs very thick and smooth. 1954 D. Hartley Food in England vii. 218 (heading) Egg and lemon jelly (using sponge biscuits). |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 3643, Patent *sponge cloths for cleaning machinery and fire-arms. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 397/1 Sponge Cloth, a peculiar kind of cloth, moist with oil; it is used to clean the screws of Armstrong guns. 1902 D. Salomons in A. C. Harmsworth Motors & Motor Driving vi. 93 Sponge cloths are a desirable accessory for cleaning and for polishing up. 1919 Queen 26 July 138 White sponge cloth is the thing for this new coat and skirt. 1957 M. B. Picken Fashion Dict. 318/2 Sponge cloth... Cotton fabric of coarse yarn woven in honeycomb weave to produce open spongy effect. 1976 W. Trevor Children of Dynmouth iii. 58 Timothy rinsed the sponge-cloth he was using, squeezing it out in his bowl of dirty water. He wiped the inside of the oven..and closed the door. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 10/2 The biscuits, *sponge-fingers, sultana-cakes [etc.]. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 301 Their *sponge-glasses..may perhaps be best described as square buckets with a glass bottom to them. 1887 Goode Fisheries U.S. 823 The sponge-glass as originally constructed consisted of a small, square, wooden box having a glass bottom. |
| 1882 U.S. Rep. Prec. Met. 648 Pouring melted phosphorus upon hot *sponge⁓gold. |
| 1828 Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 177 Number 2 passes his sponge..to 4, who straps on the *sponge-head. |
| 1840 Gen. Mercer in R. J. Macdonald Hist. Dress R.A. (1899) 56 Mine [i.e. a hat] was one of the low fans, with the spunge-head feather. |
| 1881 Ingersoll Oyster-Industr. (Hist. Fish. Industr. U.S.) 248 *Sponge-hook.—The bent, two-pronged iron tool at the end of a pole, with which sponges are gathered from the bottom. 1887 Goode Fisheries U.S. 823 The sponge-hooks are made of iron, with three curved prongs, measuring in total width about 5 or 6 inches. |
| 1874 J. A. Phillips Elem. Metall. 434 The precipitation of copper is very rapidly effected by the use of *sponge-iron. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 50/1 *Sponge mixture..pkt. -/5½. 1962 ‘O. Mills’ Headlines make Murder x. 119 She..poured boiling water on her sponge mixture. 1975 Times 10 May 13/4 A sponge mixture that you bake yourself tastes very much nicer than a shop bought one. |
| 1881 Ingersoll Oyster-Industr. (Hist. Fish. Industr. U.S.) 248 *Sponge-pole.—The pole by which the hook is operated in gathering sponges. |
| 1932 New Yorker 9 Apr. 56/3 A luxurious soft pile combined with a *sponge rubber back. 1934 G. F. Charnock Mech. Technol. (ed. 2) xxii. 278 Sponge rubber, such as is sometimes used for upholstery, and in which the pores are many times larger than the cells of expanded rubber, is not such an effective insulator. 1951 Archit. Rev. CIX. 164 (caption) A sponge rubber overlay is fitted over the springs. 1967 N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable 20 Metal furniture, upholstered in sponge rubber, covered with grey plastic. |
| 1884 Myra's Cookery Bk. xiv. 309 *Sponge sandwiches... Sponge cakes 6—cut in half lengthways. 1917 Harrods Gen. Catal. 1269/2 Sponge Sandwiches..each 1/6. 1967 A. Laski Seven Other Years iii. 30, I want you to go..and get a sponge sandwich for tomorrow. A chocolate sponge with cream. |
| 1772 Phil. Trans. LXII. 90, I took..sheet lead..and beat it on a *sponge staff to make it round. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4) 160 Sponge Staffs, with Hook attached, used in obtaining..sponge. |
| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 253 Lapis Spongiæ,..the *Sponge-stone. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 100 The Spunge-Stone..is made of the Matter of Spunges petrified. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The spunge-stone, or tartarous incrustation on this plant. |
| 1901 Q. Rev. July 22 There is a ‘*sponge’ swamp, or stream-head. |
b. In names of crustacea, insects, etc., as
sponge centre-shell,
crab,
moth,
shrimp.
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 378 And so the Sponge-Spy warily awakes The Sponge's dull sense, when repast it takes. 1681 Grew Musæum i. vi. ii. 148 The Spung-Centre-Shell. Balanus Spongiarum. 1848 Maunder Treas. Nat. Hist. 197/1 Sponge Crab.—Dromia vulgaris. 1888 Amer. Naturalist Mar. 256 The Sponge Shrimp. Alpheus. 1891 Cent. Dict., Sponge-moth, the gipsy-moth. |
c. In names of plants, etc., as
sponge-cucumber,
gourd,
-leather,
mushroom,
-tree,
-wood.
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Sponge-cucumber, same as sponge-gourd. |
| 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 548 The fruit of Luffa fœtida is termed the *Sponge Gourd, as it consists of a mass of fibres entangled together, and is used for cleaning guns, &c. |
| 1887 Cassell's Encycl. Dict., *Sponge-leather,..Polytrichum commune. |
| 1681 Grew Musæum ii. iii. iv. 239 The *Sponge Mushroom..hath the substance of a Tree-Mushroom. |
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 328 *Spunge-tree, Mimosa. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Plants 858 Acacia farnesiana, Sponge Tree... [Native of] St. Domin[go]. |
| 1828 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XIX. 487/2 One species, Gastonia spongiosa, native of the Island of Bourbon; a tree with bark similar to sponge, it is called by the natives *Sponge wood. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1086/2 Spongewood, æschynomene aspera. |
Add:
[I.] [1.] d. A piece of sponge or similar material (
esp. one impregnated with spermicide) inserted into the vagina as a form of barrier contraceptive.
| 1823 To Married of Both Sexes of Working People (handbill) 3 If the sponge be large enough, that is; as large as a green walnut, or a small apple, it will prevent conception. 1902 F. Hollick Origin of Life (new ed.) xxxviii. 428 No certain dependence can be placed upon introducing any object into the vagina before association, as a sponge, for instance, which, on being withdrawn, may bring the semen with it. 1933 C. I. B. Voge Chem. & Physics of Contraceptives v. 196 The sponge itself acts as a barrier and the action of coitus forces the spermicide out of the sponge into the vaginal cavity. 1983 N.Y. Times 13 Mar. 25/3 Physicians said the sponge proved to be about as effective as the diaphragm in tests on 2,000 women in several countries, including the United States. |
[IV.] [13.] [b.] sponge-fly = spongilla fly s.v. *
spongilla n.| 1901 J. G. Needham in Bull N.Y. State Mus. No. 47. 560, I would suggest that as a common name for the insects of these two genera, spongilla flies, or *sponge flies, would not be inappropriate. 1968 Oxf. Bk. Insects 36/1 Sponge-fly (Sisyra fuscata). A small, semi-aquatic Lacewing which flies from May to September. |
▪ II. sponge, n.2 Also 7–8
spunge.
[f. the vb.] 1. The act of living parasitically on others.
| 1693 Humours Town 37 Another..is faine to live upon the Spunge the rest of his days. 1716 C'tess Cowper Diary (1864) 105 Lady W. Powlett complains of Mademoiselle Schutz, and says she is so importunate and troublesome, and always upon the Spunge. |
2. An act of wetting or wiping (off) with or as by means of a sponge. Also with
advs.| 1720 A. Hutcheson Collect. Calcul. S. Sea Scheme 138 Whether the Parliament..shall now take the Benefit of such a Spunge made by the Directors of the South-Sea Company. 1873 Tristram Moab xv. 285 For myself a sponge at that heat was quite enough. 1905 Daily Chron. 21 Apr. 4/5 The mildest form of the cold bath is the cold sponge down. 1954 M. Stewart Madam, will you Talk? vii. 60, I hadn't time for a bath, but I took a quick cool sponge down. 1960 House & Garden Mar. 63/1 All the paper will need will be a sponge down. 1977 W. Golding Moving Target (1982) 66 Ann has just had a sponge-down in the beastly bath. |
▪ III. † sponge, n.3 Obs. Also
spunge.
[ad. older F. esponge (mod.F. éponge), alteration of OF. esponde:—L. sponda frame (of a bed, etc.).] A heel of a horse-shoe.
| 1580 Blundevil Horsemanship iv. 62 b, The Grauelling..commeth by meanes of little grauell stones getting betwixt the hooue, or calking, or sponge of the [horse's] shooe. 1596 L. Mascall Cattle 156 In shooing the fore feete, make your shooes with a broade webbe and with thick sponges. 1607 Markham Cavel. vi. (1617) 64 The heeles shal be made with extraordinary long spunges, & those spunges more broad and flat then commonly is vsed. 1726 Dict. Rust. s.v., Those who make the spunges of their Horses Shoes too long..spoil their Feet. |
▪ IV. sponge, v. (
spʌndʒ)
Also 6–9
spunge (7–8
spung), 6
spundge;
Sc. 6, 9
spounge, 9
spoonge.
[f. sponge n.1, or ad. OF. esponger (mod.F. éponger), late L. spongiāre (rare).] I. 1. a. trans. To wipe or rub with a wet sponge for the purpose of cleaning. Also with
advs., as
down,
over,
up.
| 1392 Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 178 Et per manus eiusdem pro spongyng j last barello. 1530 Palsgr. 729, I sponge a gowne or any other garment to scoure the fylthe out of it, je esponge. 1550 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. 73 Brush thou, and spunge thy cloaths to, that thou that day shalt weare. 1609 T. Cocks Diary (1901) 81 Given to nursse for spunginge my jerkyn ijd. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. ii. 440 In their sight to spunge his foame-bespawled beard. 1687 Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, To spunge a Thing over. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton vi, Too busy planning how her..gown..might be sponged, and turned. 1889 Gunter That Frenchman viii. 89 It [the dress-suit] looks very nice now, and Gretchen can sponge it up to-morrow. |
| absol. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. 326 Another..sponged freely and regularly..in water colored brown by coffee. |
| fig. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 156 God hath now Sponged and made blank of crimeful record all My mortal archives. |
b. To swab the bore of (a cannon),
esp. after a discharge. Also
absol.| a 1625 Nomencl. Navalis (MS. Harl. 2301) s.v., Wee have it also fitted to the ends of a stiff roape..to spunge and lade within Board. We over spung a Peece [etc.]. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. To Rdr., To spunge, lade, and fire a Gun. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Cannon, To spunge a piece therefore is to introduce this instrument into the bore, and thrusting it home.., to clean the whole cavity. 1828 Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 175 Number 1, points and commands; 2, sponges; 3, loads. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1877) III. i. 119 In less time than it took the Russian artillerymen to sponge and load their guns. |
c. spec. (See
quot.)
| 1775 Ash, Sponge (v.t.),..to take off the gloss of new cloth with a sponge. |
d. To wipe, wet, or moisten,
with some liquid applied by means of a sponge.
| 1800 Med. Jrnl. III. 557, I then directed..the whole surface of his body to be sponged with cold vinegar. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 742 To make the colour of the sky spread more evenly, it is a frequent practice to sponge the paper with clean water. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. (1878) 174 The patient should be..frequently sponged with tepid water. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 780 The best treatment would be to sponge the parts with a one in two thousand perchloride of mercury. |
† 2. a. With
up: To make spruce, smart, or trim.
| 1588 Greene Pandosto Wks. (Grosart) IV. 296 His Wife, a good cleanly wenche, brought him all things fitte, and spunged him vp very handsomelie. 1590 Tarlton News Purgat. (1844) 83 On goes she with her holiday partlet & spundging herself up went with her husband to church. 1605 Chapman All Fools i. i. 73 Undressed, sluttish, nasty, to their husbands; Spung'd up, adorn'd, and painted to their lovers. 1626 Middleton Women Beware Women ii. ii, When she was invited to an early wedding; She'ld dress her head o'r night, spunge up herself, And give her neck three lathers. |
† b. Similarly without
up.
Obs.| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 239 He as neatly spunged as if he had been a bridegrome. 1594 Nashe Terrors of Night To Rdr., You shal haue them..spend a whole twelue month in spunging & sprucing them. |
3. a. To apply with a sponge.
rare—1.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 184 Diuers Authors haue also prescribed these outward medicines against the bitinges of Dogs in generall, namely Vinegar spunged, the lees of vineger [etc.]. |
b. To remove, wipe
away,
off, or
up, by means of a sponge. Also in
fig. context.
| 1624 Quarles Job Militant xii, O! bathe me in his Blood, spunge euery Staine, That I may boldly sue my Counter⁓paine. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 258 After the bone is laid sufficiently bare, and the blood well spunged up. 1846 F. Brittan tr. Malgaigne's Man. Oper. Surg. 10 Carefully sponge away the blood or serum which exudes during the application of the caustic. 1906 F. S. Oliver A. Hamilton iv. iv. 309 All the old accounts were sponged off the slate. |
c. To take
out, extract, by means of a sponge or in a similar manner.
| 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 91 Golden-sand which the People spong'd out of the Water with their sheep-skins. 1894 Daily News 17 July 6/3 The collector would not fairly be stigmatised as a Vandal if he sponged out the plate. Ibid., These [book-]plates, containing the names..of the owners from whose books they have been ‘sponged’. |
4. To convert (flour or dough) into ‘sponge’. Also
intr.| 1772 Ann. Reg. ii. 109/2 So will a thimble-full of barm, by adding of warm water, raise or spunge any body of flour. 1876 Mid-Yorks. Gloss. 134/2. 1962 M. E. Murie Two in Far North ii. vii. 171 The [bread] sponge didn't sponge in spite of red damask tablecloth and fur parka I had lovingly wrapped it in. |
5. intr. To issue or rise in a spongy form; to foam; to drip as from a sponge.
| 1790 J. Fisher Poems 93 Sips o' it seem to come spunging Out frae your mouth. 1867 Stamford Mercury 20 Sept., She did not even sponge at her mouth. 1880 J. Lomas Alkali Trade iii. 73 The cast-iron burner pipe..should project some 6 or 9 in. into the interior, to prevent any sponging back of the acid. 1884 Burroughs Locusts & Wild H. 112 Rain..sponging off every leaf of every tree in the forest and every growth in the fields. |
6. trans. To throw up the sponge on behalf of (one who is beaten in a fight).
slang.| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 56 They'll fight on till they go down together, and then if one [dog] leave hold, he's sponged. |
II. fig. 7. To rub or wipe out, to efface or obliterate:
a. With
out or
out of.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 200 b, Which spot no wayes can be sponged out nor recompenced, for shame in a kynred can by no treasure be redemed. 1570 Foxe A. & M. 688/1, I trust..y{supt} your dyrtie pen..hath not so bedaubed and bespotted me..but I hope to spunge it out. 1629 Lynde Via Tuta 285 After I..had noted six hundred seuerall passages to be spunged and blotted out. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 258 To spunge out prejudicate Notions or Opinions. 1838 Eliza Cook Lines written at Midn. vi, Time..That sponges out all trace of truth. 1887 D. C. Murray & Herman Traveller Returns v. 69 Its gloom saturated the forest rim, and then sponged it out of sight. 1888 W. Richmond Chr. Econ. 232 The difficulty is one to be met in detail. It cannot be sponged out by any general statement. |
b. Without
adv.| a 1636 Lynde Case for Spectacles (1638) 103 Or must we beleeve, that your Inquisitors would take such infinite care and paines to review all Authours for 1600. yeares, and spunge them onely in the Index? 1819 Keats Otho i. iii. 44 No, not a thousand foughten fields could sponge Those days paternal from my memory. 1866 Crump Banking ii. 70 It would remain in the power of the tribunal..to sponge from their name the least suspicion. |
c. With
off. (Chiefly of debts.)
| 1720 A. Hutcheson Collect. Calcul. S. Sea Scheme 138 Whether the Parliament had, by an express Law, Spunged off Seven Millions of this Debt. 1803 Cobbett in Pol. Reg. (1817) 8 Feb. 177 There is none of the debt sponged off by this tax. 1824 Examiner 817/2 The debt would be spunged off. |
8. a. To divest
of something.
rare—1.
| 1594 Kyd Cornelia ii. 7 O eyes,..make the blood..trickle by your vaults; And spunge my bodies heate of moisture so, As my displeased soule may shunne my hart. |
b. To drain or empty; to clear out.
rare.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xvi. 147 When they haue done, and their Clients purses well spunged, they are better friends then euer they were. 1814 Scott Wav. xlvi, This the young Highlander performed, not without examining the pockets of the defunct, which, however, he remarked, had been pretty well spunged. |
c. To deprive (one)
of something by sponging; to press (one)
for money; to squeeze.
| 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature i. 11 Those Hogs hee must feed, till they spunge him of all his substance. 1677 Miége Fr. Dict. ii, To spunge one, to get what one can of him. 1692 South Serm. (1697) I. 538 How came such multitudes..to be spunged of their Plate and Money. 1716 Wodrow's Corr. (1843) II. 132 Yea, taking the clothes off the people's very backs,..and always spunged them for money. 1724 Ramsay Vision xii, By rundging, and spunging, The leil laborious pure [= poor]. |
9. † a. To obtain by pressure or extortion.
Obs.| 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 95 Their Principal Revenue arising from what they spunge from their Vassals. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. lxxiv, To spunge Composition out of such as are willing to buy their Peace. |
b. To get from another in a mean or parasitic manner. Also with
up.
| 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer Prol., If y'ave any wit, 'Tis but what here you spunge and daily get. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 369 Any that would spunge a Dinner. 1735 Swift in Portland Papers VI. 61 (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I spend six hogsheads every year, which some of my Prebendaries..sponge from me at noon or evening. 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. xxvii, They spunged up my money whilst it lasted. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. 201 Once many a bit we sponged; but now, God help us, that is done with. |
10. a. intr. To live on others in a parasitic manner; to obtain assistance or maintenance by mean arts.
| 1673 R. Head Canting Acad. 103 He may Spunge, and have his Leachery for nothing. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Spunge, to drink at others Cost. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T., To spunge, to eat and drink at another's cost. 1849 W. Irving Goldsm. xxv. 222 An Irishman..who lived nobody knew how nor where; sponging wherever he had a chance. 1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 203 Fearing to look as if she were sponging, Kate insisted on..standing treat. |
b. Const.
on or
upon (a person, etc.).
| (a) 1677 Miége Fr. Dict., To spunge upon one, écornifler. 1693 Humours Town 101 The poor Curate is fain to Spunge upon the Wealthier Sinners of his Parish. 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. iv. iii, I had rather spunge upon Morris, and sup upon a Dish of Bohee scor'd behind the Door. 1730 Fielding Tom Thumb ii. i, There when I have him, I will spunge upon him. 1824 Hist. Gaming 41 Frequenting shabby ale-houses, sponging upon credulous persons. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 198 They will cheat the public at their shops or sponge on their friends at their houses. 1887 M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike x, I hope I shall never be obliged to sponge upon you. |
| (b) 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life iii. Mortification iii, What man in his Wits would keep such a Company of devouring Lusts about him, that are perpetually spungeing upon his Estate. a 1692 H. Pollexfen Disc. Trade (1697) 155 [They] must live by preying, pilfering or spunging upon other Mens Labours. 1855 Trollope Warden xx, It was an easy matter to abandon his own income, as he was able to sponge on that of another person. 1902 L. Stephen Stud. Biogr. III. iii. 114 Humbugs, ready to..spunge upon his benevolence. |
c. With
for (something).
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) I. 200 That all Bullies should pay; And sponge no more for recreation. 1735 Sheridan Let. to Swift 5 Oct., Do not think to sponge upon me for anything but meat, drink, and lodging. 1837 Lytton E. Maltrav. i. xvii, A doubt lest I should some day or other sponge upon his lordship for a place. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. i. v, I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach! |
11. To go about in a sneaking or loafing fashion,
esp. in order to obtain something.
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl. s.v. 1866 Lond. Rev. 3 Mar. 245/2 Soldiers..loafing and spunging from tavern to tavern during the entire day. |
III. 12. intr. (See
quot.)
| 1881 Ingersoll Oyster-Industr. (Hist. Fish. Industr. U.S.) 248 Sponge, or To go Sponging.—To go on a cruise for gathering sponges. |
Hence
ˈspongeable a., able to be wiped with a sponge.
| 1971 Ideal Home Apr. 75/2 Spongeable wallpaper. 1976 Milton Keynes Express 23 July 22/5 (Advt.), Roller blind kits and dozens of fabulous spongeable fabrics at Bedford Wednesday Market behind statue. |