Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One that gathers sponges.
- noun Informal A person who sponges on others; a parasite.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who uses a sponge.
- noun A person or vessel engaged in fishing for sponges.
- noun In cloth-manuf., a machine in which cloth is dampened previous to ironing. It has a perforated adjustable cylinder, which is filled with steam, and about which the cloth is rolled.
- noun A parasitical dependent; a hanger-on for maintenance; a sponge.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who sponges, or uses a sponge.
- noun One employed in gathering sponges.
- noun Fig.: A parasitical dependent; a hanger-on.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One who uses a
sponge . - noun A
parasitic hanger-on . - noun One employed in gathering
sponges from thesea .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a workman employed to collect sponges
- noun a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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There is a nasty sound about the word sponger, don't you think?
Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 of Samosata Lucian 1895
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Cowell then explained the meaning of the word sponger for American audiences as 'that means somebody who makes their money from sponging off other people.'
Home | Mail Online 2009
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He explained the meaning of the word sponger for the American audience: "That means somebody who makes their money by sponging off other people," he said.
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A soldier without his arms, a dress without its purple, a horse without its trappings, are poor things; and a rich man without his sponger is a mean, cheap spectacle.
Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 of Samosata Lucian 1895
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Cold hungry philosophers you may see any day, but never a cold hungry sponger; the man would not be a sponger, that is all, but a wretched pauper, no better than a philosopher.
Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 of Samosata Lucian 1895
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But of course, if never to be hungry, thirsty, or cold, is to be happy, the sponger is the man who is in that position.
Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 of Samosata Lucian 1895
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If the courageous is so in virtue of his courage, the sensible sensible in virtue of his sense, then the sponger is a sponger in virtue of sponging.
Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 of Samosata Lucian 1895
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That word "sponger" as it came to Dan caused him to straighten himself up and step forward more quickly.
The Fourth Watch 1910
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Mr Griffin said Miss Hanson, who once claimed Australia was being "swamped by Asians", would not be a "sponger".
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
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Buckingham Palace denies Prince Philip called pop impresario Simon Cowell a "sponger".
unknown title 2009
dailyword commented on the word sponger
This word was also used in the movie version of "Master And Commander" when they were singing at dinner.
June 28, 2012