sponge
verb/spʌndʒ/
/spʌndʒ/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they sponge | /spʌndʒ/ /spʌndʒ/ |
| he / she / it sponges | /ˈspʌndʒɪz/ /ˈspʌndʒɪz/ |
| past simple sponged | /spʌndʒd/ /spʌndʒd/ |
| past participle sponged | /spʌndʒd/ /spʌndʒd/ |
| -ing form sponging | /ˈspʌndʒɪŋ/ /ˈspʌndʒɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] sponge somebody/yourself/something (down) to wash somebody/yourself/something with a wet cloth or sponge synonym wipe
- She sponged his hot face.
- Take your jacket off and I'll sponge it down with water.
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- [transitive] sponge something + adv./prep. to remove something using a wet cloth or sponge synonym wash
- We tried to sponge the blood off my shirt.
- [intransitive] sponge (off/on somebody) (informal, disapproving) to get money, food, etc. regularly from other people without doing anything for them or offering to pay synonym scrounge
- He spent his life sponging off his relatives.
Word OriginOld English (in sense 1 of the noun), via Latin from Greek spongia, later form of spongos, reinforced in Middle English by Old French esponge.
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sponge