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APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

sponge

/spʌndʒ/

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What does sponge mean?

noun

  1. Any of various marine invertebrates of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
  2. A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).
  3. The porous material that synthetic washing sponges are made of.
More meanings (20)

noun

  1. (informal) A heavy drinker.
  2. A type of light cake.
  3. A type of steamed pudding.
  4. (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).
  5. A person who readily absorbs ideas.
  6. A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
  7. 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.
  8. Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
  9. Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
  10. 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.
  11. The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
  12. (slang) A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.

verb

  1. (slang) To take advantage of the kindness of others.
  2. To get by imposition; to scrounge.
  3. 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. To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
  8. To use a piece of wild sponge as a tool when foraging for food.
Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/spʌndʒ/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Trina was in the centre of the room, wiping off, with a damp sponge, the oilcloth table-cover, on which they had breakfasted.
Frank NorrisMcTeague: A Story of San FranciscoProject Gutenberg ebook #165
It is not in my power to pass the sponge over my poor brain even as I pass it over the blackboard.
Jean-Henri FabreThe Life of the Fly; With Which are Interspersed Some Chapters of AutobiographyTranslated by Alexander Teixeira de MattosProject Gutenberg ebook #3422
More book examples (2)
An external bath for those able to walk about, and a "sponge off" for those confined to bed, must not be neglected.
Chas. A. (Charles Alfred) TyrrellThe Royal Road to Health; Or, the Secret of Health Without DrugsProject Gutenberg ebook #3453
Use a coarse cloth or Turkish towel for this purpose rather than a sponge, as the latter cannot be kept perfectly clean.
Henry LindlahrNature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & CureProject Gutenberg ebook #4273