In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
SPONGE
sponge, poriferan, parazoan
(noun) primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs in sessile colonies
leech, parasite, sponge, sponger
(noun) a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage
sponge
(noun) a porous mass of interlacing fibers that forms the internal skeleton of various marine animals and usable to absorb water or any porous rubber or cellulose product similarly used
sponge
(verb) gather sponges, in the ocean
sponge
(verb) wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten
sponge
(verb) soak up with a sponge
sponge
(verb) erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard
mooch, bum, cadge, grub, sponge
(verb) ask for and get free; be a parasite
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
sponge (countable and uncountable, plural sponges)
(countable) Any of various marine invertebrates, mostly of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.
Synonyms: sea sponge, bath sponge, poriferan, porifer
(countable) A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).
Synonym: bath sponge
(uncountable) A porous material such as sponges consist of.
(informal) A heavy drinker.
Synonyms: souse, swill-pot, Thesaurus:drunkard
(countable, uncountable) A type of light cake.
Synonym: sponge cake
(countable, uncountable, British) A type of steamed pudding.
Synonym: sponge pudding
(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).
Synonyms: freeloader, sponger, Thesaurus:scrounger
(countable) A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
Any sponge-like substance.
(baking) 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.
Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
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.
The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
(slang) A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.
Verb
sponge (third-person singular simple present sponges, present participle sponging, simple past and past participle sponged)
(intransitive, slang) To take advantage of the kindness of others.
(transitive, intransitive with on or upon) To get by imposition; to scrounge.
Synonym: blag
(transitive) To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.
To clean, soak up, or dab with a sponge.
To suck in, or imbibe, like a sponge.
To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.
(intransitive, baking) To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
Anagrams
• pengos, pengős
Source: Wiktionary
Sponge, n. Etym: [OF. esponge, F. éponge, L. spongia, Gr. Fungus, Spunk.] [Formerly written also spunge.]
1. (Zoöl.)
Definition: Any one of numerous species of Spongiæ, or Porifera. See Illust. and Note under Spongiæ.
2. The elastic fibrous skeleton of many species of horny Spongiæ (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.
3. Fig.: One who lives upon others; a pertinaceous and indolent dependent; a parasite; a sponger.
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.
5. (Gun.)
Definition: 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.
6. (Far.)
Definition: The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, answering to the heel. 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 tubulufera), 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 S. 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. [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.
Sponge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sponged; p. pr. & vb. n. Sponging.]
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.
2. To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of. Hooker.
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.
4. Fig.: To get by imposition or mean arts without cost; as, to sponge a breakfast. Swift.
Sponge, v. i.
1. To suck in, or imbile, as a sponge.
2. Fig.: To gain by mean arts, by intrusion, or hanging on; as, an idler sponges on his neighbor. E. Eggleston. The fly is an intruder, and a common smell-feast, that sponges upon other people's trenchers. L'Estrange.
3. To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast, or leaven.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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