Sponge

8 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sponge \Sponge\ (sp[u^]nj), n. [OF. esponge, F. ['e]ponge, L.
     spongia, Gr. spoggia`, spo`ggos. Cf. {Fungus}, {Spunk}.]
     [Formerly written also {spunge}.]
     1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of Spongiae, or
        Porifera. See Illust. and Note under {Spongiae}.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. The elastic fibrous skeleton of many species of horny
        Spongiae (Keratosa), used for many purposes, especially
        the varieties of the genus {Spongia}. The most valuable
        sponges are found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea,
        and on the coasts of Florida and the West Indies.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Fig.: One who lives upon others; a pertinacious and
        indolent dependent; a parasite; a sponger.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Any spongelike substance. Specifically:
        (a) 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.
        (b) Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
        (c) Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Gun.) 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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Far.) The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, answering
        to the heel.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Bath sponge}, any one of several varieties of coarse
        commercial sponges, especially {Spongia equina}.
  
     {Cup sponge}, a toilet sponge growing in a cup-shaped form.
        
  
     {Glass sponge}. See {Glass-sponge}, in the Vocabulary.
  
     {Glove sponge}, a variety of commercial sponge ({Spongia
        officinalis}, variety tubulifera), having very fine
        fibers, native of Florida, and the West Indies.
  
     {Grass sponge}, any one of several varieties of coarse
        commercial sponges having the surface irregularly tufted,
        as {Spongia graminea}, and {Spongia equina}, variety
        cerebriformis, of Florida and the West Indies.
  
     {Horse sponge}, a coarse commercial sponge, especially
        {Spongia equina}.
  
     {Platinum sponge}. (Chem.) See under {Platinum}.
  
     {Pyrotechnical sponge}, a substance made of mushrooms or
        fungi, which are boiled in water, dried, and beaten, then
        put in a strong lye prepared with saltpeter, and again
        dried in an oven. This makes the black match, or tinder,
        brought from Germany.
  
     {Sheep's-wool sponge}, a fine and durable commercial sponge
        ({Spongia equina}, variety gossypina) found in Florida and
        the West Indies. The surface is covered with larger and
        smaller tufts, having the oscula between them.
  
     {Sponge cake}, a kind of sweet cake which is light and
        spongy.
  
     {Sponge lead}, or {Spongy lead} (Chem.), metallic lead
        brought to a spongy form by reduction of lead salts, or by
        compressing finely divided lead; -- used in secondary
        batteries and otherwise.
  
     {Sponge tree} (Bot.), a tropical leguminous tree ({Acacia
        Farnesiana}), with deliciously fragrant flowers, which are
        used in perfumery.
  
     {Toilet sponge}, a very fine and superior variety of
        Mediterranean sponge ({Spongia officinalis}, variety
        Mediterranea); -- called also {Turkish sponge}.
  
     {To set a sponge} (Cookery), to leaven a small mass of flour,
        to be used in leavening a larger quantity.
  
     {To throw up the sponge}, to give up a contest; to
        acknowledge defeat; -- from a custom of the prize ring,
        the person employed to sponge a pugilist between rounds
        throwing his sponge in the air in token of defeat; -- now,
        {throw in the towel} is more common, and has the same
        origin and meaning. [Cant or Slang] "He was too brave a
        man to throw up the sponge to fate." --Lowell.
  
     {Vegetable sponge}. (Bot.) See {Loof}.
  
     {Velvet sponge}, a fine, soft commercial sponge ({Spongia
        equina}, variety meandriniformis) found in Florida and the
        West Indies.
  
     {Vitreous sponge}. See {Glass-sponge}.
  
     {Yellow sponge}, a common and valuable commercial sponge
        ({Spongia agaricina}, variety corlosia) found in Florida
        and the West Indies.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sponge \Sponge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sponged} (sp[u^]njd); p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Sponging} (sp[u^]n"j[i^]ng).]
     1. To cleanse or wipe with a sponge; as, to sponge a slate or
        a cannon; to wet with a sponge; as, to sponge cloth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to
        efface; to destroy all trace of. --Hooker.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Fig.: To deprive of something by imposition. "How came
        such multitudes of our nation . . . to be sponged of their
        plate and their money?" --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Fig.: To get by imposition or mean arts without cost; as,
        to sponge a breakfast. --Swift.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sponge \Sponge\, v. i.
     1. To suck in, or imbibe, as a sponge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Fig.: To gain by mean arts, by intrusion, or hanging on;
        as, an idler sponges on his neighbor. --E. Eggleston.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The fly is an intruder, and a common smell-feast,
              that sponges upon other people's trenchers.
                                                    --L'Estrange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by
        the agency of yeast, or leaven.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sponge
       n 1: a porous mass of interlacing fibers the forms the internal
            skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb
            water or any porous rubber or cellulose product
            similarly used
       2: someone able to acquire new knowledge and skills rapidly and
          easily; "she soaks up foreign languages like a sponge"
          [syn: {quick study}]
       3: a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the
          host) in hope of gain or advantage [syn: {leech}, {parasite},
           {sponger}]
       4: primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is
          supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs
          in sessile colonies [syn: {poriferan}, {parazoan}]
       v 1: wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten
       2: ask for and get free; be a parasite [syn: {mooch}, {bum}, {cadge},
           {grub}]
       3: erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard
       4: soak up with a sponge
       5: gather sponges, in the ocean

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  370 Moby Thesaurus words for "sponge":
     Ace bandage, Band-Aid, Finnish bath, India rubber, Japanese bath,
     Loch Ness monster, Russian bath, Swedish bath, Turkish bath,
     ablution, absorb, absorbency, absorbent, absorption, adhesive tape,
     adsorb, adsorbent, adsorption, air, air-dry, alevin, anhydrate,
     application, asperge, assimilate, assimilation, bake, band,
     bandage, bandaging, baptize, barnacle, bath, bathe, batten on,
     beat, bedew, benthon, benthos, bespatter, besprinkle, bibber,
     binder, bloodsucker, blot, blot out, blot up, blotter, blotting,
     blotting paper, boozehound, boozer, bottle sucker, brace, brush,
     bubble, bum, burn, butter, cancel, cast, cataplasm, cetacean,
     chaff, chemisorb, chemisorption, chemosorb, chemosorption, chip,
     cleaning out, cobweb, colander, cold shower, compress, cork,
     cotton, court plaster, cravat, cribble, cribriformity, cribrosity,
     cross out, crush, cure, dabble, damp, dampen, dash, deadbeat,
     dehumidify, dehydrate, dele, delete, dental pulp, desiccate, dew,
     digest, digestion, dolphin, douche, douching, down, drain,
     dressing, drink, drink in, drink up, drunk, dry, dust, efface,
     elastic bandage, elbow bender, elution, elutriation, endosmosis,
     enema, engross, engrossment, epithem, eradicator, erase, eraser,
     ether, evaporate, exosmosis, expunge, expunger, exsiccate, fairy,
     fatten on, feather, feed on, filter in, fingerling, fire, fish,
     flue, fluff, flush, flush out, flushing, flushing out, foam,
     four-tailed bandage, freeload, freeloader, froth, fry, fuzz,
     game fish, gargle, gauze, ginhound, give, gossamer, grilse,
     guzzler, hanger-on, hip bath, holystone, honeycomb, hooch hound,
     hose, hose down, humect, humectate, humidify, hummum, imbibe,
     inebriate, infiltrate, infiltration, insolate, irrigate,
     irrigation, kiln, kipper, lather, lathering, launder, lavabo,
     lavage, lavation, lave, laving, leech, lint, live off of,
     lounge lizard, lush, lusher, man-eater, man-eating shark,
     marine animal, mash, minnow, minny, moisten, mop, mop up, mopping,
     mopping up, mote, mummify, mush, needle bath, nekton, net,
     obliterate, osmose, osmosis, paddle, panfish, paper pulp, parasite,
     parch, paste, percolate in, percolation, pith, plankton, plaster,
     plaster cast, pledget, plunge bath, porosity, porousness, porpoise,
     porridge, poultice, present, pudding, pulp, pulp lead, pulpwood,
     rag pulp, raze, riddle, rinse, rinse out, rinsing,
     ritually immerse, roller, roller bandage, rub, rub out, rubber,
     rubber bandage, rule out, rum hound, rummy, salmon, sauce, sauna,
     sauna bath, scorch, scour, scouring, scratch, scratch out, screen,
     scrub, scrub up, scrubbing, scrubbing up, sea monster, sea pig,
     sea serpent, sea snake, sear, seep in, seepage, shampoo, shark,
     shower, shower bath, shrivel, sieve, sievelikeness, sitz bath,
     sling, slobber, slop, slosh, sluice, sluice out, slurp up, smash,
     smell-feast, smoke, smolt, soak, soak in, soak up, soap, soaping,
     sorb, sorption, sot, souse, sparge, spatter, spiv, splash,
     splatter, splint, sponge bath, sponge on, sponge out, sponger,
     sponging, spray, sprinkle, spume, squash, stew, strainer, straw,
     strike out, stupe, sucker, sulfate pulp, sulfite pulp, sun,
     sun-dry, swab, swabbing, swash, sweat bath, swill up, swillbelly,
     swillbowl, swillpot, syringe, take in, take up, tampon, tape, tent,
     thistledown, tippler, toivel, torrefy, tourniquet, towel,
     triangular bandage, tropical fish, tub, wash, wash out, wash up,
     washing, washing up, washout, washup, water, weazen, wet, wet down,
     whale, whirlpool bath, white lead, wino, wipe, wipe out, wiping up,
     wither, wizen, wood pulp
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  sponge n. [Unix] A special case of a {filter} that reads its entire
     input before writing any output; the canonical example is a sort
     utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently overwrite the
     input file with the output data stream. If a file system has versioning
     (as ITS did and VMS does now) the sponge/filter distinction loses its
     usefulness, because directing filter output would just write a new
     version. See also {slurp}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  sponge
       
          A special case of a {Unix} {filter} that reads its entire
          input before writing any output; the canonical example is a
          sort utility.  Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently
          overwrite the input file with the output data stream.  If a
          file system has {file versioning} (as {ITS} did and {VMS} does
          now) the sponge/filter distinction loses its usefulness,
          because directing filter output would just write a new
          version.
       
          See also {slurp}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1995-01-18)
       
       

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Sponge
     occurs only in the narrative of the crucifixion (Matt. 27:48;
     Mark 15:36; John 19:29). It is ranked as a zoophyte. It is found
     attached to rocks at the bottom of the sea.