See Also: sponge(dictionary)
sponge(1)(dictionary)
sponge(2)(dictionary)
sponge bag(dictionary)
Sponge(medicine)
sponge(encyclopedia)
sponge 1, noun(dictionary)
sponge cake(dictionary)
sponge pudding(dictionary)
sponge tent(medicine)

sponge (iou)



sponge verb. Also spunge LME.
[from SPONGE noun1, perh. partly after Old French esponger (mod. eponger).]
verb trans. Wipe, rub, or dab with a wet sponge or cloth so as to clean etc. (freq. foll. by down, over, up); wipe or moisten with liquid applied by means of a sponge. LME.
V. Woolf She..began sponging her cheeks with..water. Dodie Smith We sponged and pressed our winter coats.
b. Hist. Swab the bore of (a cannon), esp. after a discharge. E17.
c. Apply paint with a sponge to (walls, furniture, pottery, etc.); apply (paint) in this way to achieve a mottled effect. E20.
verb trans. Remove, wipe away, or absorb (as) with a sponge; efface, obliterate, (writing, a memory, etc.); wipe out (a debt etc.). (Foll. by away, off, out, up.) M16.
F. S. Oliver The old accounts were sponged off the slate. R. Macaulay I was lying..with someone sponging blood from my face. P. D. James He had made an attempt to sponge off the stain.
verb trans. Foll. by up: make spruce, smart, or trim. M16-E17.
verb trans.
a. Drain, empty, clear; divest of money, goods, etc. rare. L16.
b. Press (a person) for money etc.; deprive (a person) of something in this way. Now rare. M17.
verb trans. Obtain (money, drink, etc.) from another parasitically or by scrounging. L17.
verb intrans. Act in a parasitic manner, live off another (foll. by on or off a person); (foll. by for) seek to obtain by cadging. L17.
R. L. Stevenson I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum! S. Leacock A sort of ne'er-do-well, always..sponging on other people, and never working.
a. verb trans. Convert (flour or dough) into sponge in bread-making. L18.
b. verb intrans. Esp. of dough: take on spongy form, rise. L18.
verb intrans. Gather sponges from the sea. L19.
spongeable adjective able to be wiped (clean) with a sponge L20.
sponging verbal noun the action of the verb; an act or instance of this;
sponging house (Hist.), a preliminary detention centre for debtors: L16.