SPONGE
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
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.
SPONGELET
Sponge"let, n.