"sponge" Definition

Definitions for the word "sponge" from multiple English dictionaries.

1. n.
1 sea animal with a porous body wall and a rigid internal skeleton. 2 this skeleton or a piece of porous rubber etc. Used in bathing, cleaning, etc. 3 thing like a sponge in consistency etc., esp. A sponge cake. 4 act of sponging. v. (-ging) 1 wipe or cleanse with a sponge. 2 (often foll. By out, away, etc.) Wipe off or efface (as) with a sponge. 3 (often foll. By up) absorb (as) with a sponge. 4 (often foll. By on, off) live as a parasite. spongiform adj. (esp. In senses 1, 2 of the n.). [latin spongia]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
2. slang
“to throw up the SPONGE,” to submit, to give over the struggle,—from the practice of throwing up the SPONGE used to cleanse a combatant’s face at a prize-fight, as a signal that the side on which that particular SPONGE has been used has had enough—that the SPONGE is no longer required.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864

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