sponge
Other forms: sponges; sponging; sponged
A sponge has holes and soaks up liquid. One kind of sponge is a water-dwelling animal with a soft body and an asymmetrical shape. But the kind of sponge you use to clean the kitchen is usually man-made.
The sponge in the kitchen or bath looks a bit like the kind that grows in the ocean, porous and soft. Originally, those sponges were made from dried sea sponge, but it's more common these days for them to be manufactured. If you absorb knowledge or information easily, people may call you a sponge. And if you live off someone else's generosity, taking handouts and giving nothing in return, you sponge off of them.
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primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs in sessile colonies
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types:
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glass sponge
a siliceous sponge (with glassy spicules) of the class Hyalospongiae
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Venus's flower basket
a deep-water marine sponge having a cylindrical skeleton of intricate glassy latticework; found in the waters of the East Indies and the eastern coast of Asia
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type of:
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invertebrate
any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification
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glass sponge
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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
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type of:
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absorbent, absorbent material
a material having capacity or tendency to absorb another substance
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absorbent, absorbent material
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someone able to acquire new knowledge and skills rapidly and easily“she soaks up foreign languages like a sponge”
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synonyms:
quick study
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type of:
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assimilator, learner, scholar
someone (especially a child) who learns (as from a teacher) or takes up knowledge or beliefs
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assimilator, learner, scholar
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a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage
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wipe with a sponge, so as to clean or moisten
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erase with a sponge; as of words on a blackboard
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soak up with a sponge
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ask for and get free; be a parasite
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gather sponges, in the ocean
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type of:
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collect, garner, gather, pull together
assemble or get together
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collect, garner, gather, pull together
/spəndʒ/
/spəndʒ/
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