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Definition of sponge verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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/
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  1. [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.
  2. [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.
  3. [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.
  4. 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.
See sponge in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
perspective
noun
 
 
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