sponging-house love

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A victualing-house or tavern where persons arrested for debt were kept by a bailiff for twenty-four hours before being lodged in prison, in order that their friends might have an opportunity of settling the debt.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun historical A place of temporary confinement for debtors, kept by a bailiff, where debtors were sponged of all money they had on themselves, before being transferred to debtor's prison.

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