Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Resembling a sponge in elasticity, absorbency, or porousness.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In bookbinding, having a certain looseness or softness, which arises from irregularities in type impressions which have not been beaten out.
- Of the nature or character of a sponge; spongiform or spongoid.
- Resembling a sponge in certain particulars; soft or elastic and porous; of open, loose, compressible texture, like a bath-sponge; punky, pithy, or soft-grained, as wood; boggy or soggy, as soil; absorbent; imbibitive. See cuts under
cellular and cystolith. - As it were soaked with drink; drunken.
- Moist; wet; rainy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Soft, and full of cavities; of an open, loose, pliable texture
- adjective Wet; drenched; soaked and soft, like sponge; rainy.
- adjective Having the quality of imbibing fluids, like a sponge.
- adjective (Chem.) sponge lead. See under
Sponge . - adjective See under
Platinum .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective having the
characteristics of asponge , namely beingabsorbent ,squishy orporous - adjective Wet; drenched; soaked and soft, like sponge; rainy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective like a sponge in being able to absorb liquids and yield it back when compressed
- adjective easily squashed; resembling a sponge in having soft porous texture and compressibility
Etymologies
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Examples
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The interior of bitter melon is packed with large seeds suspended in spongy material.
Tigers & Strawberries » Eating Bitter, Part One: An Introduction to the Bitter Melon 2005
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Thirdly, two nerves also or appendages of the brain, for they do not go beyond the limits of the skull, are moved by the particles of terrestrial bodies, separated and flying in the air, not indeed by all particles indifferently, but by those only that are sufficiently subtle and penetrating to enter the pores of the bone we call the spongy, when drawn into the nostrils, and thus to reach the nerves.
The Selections from the Principles of Philosophy Ren�� Descartes 1623
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The red marrow is located in what is known as the spongy substance of the bones (Chapter XIV) and consists, to a large extent, of cells somewhat like the red corpuscles, but differing from them in having nuclei.
Physiology and Hygiene for Secondary Schools Francis M. Walters
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The space between these anterior and posterior openings makes a large chamber, divided by a vertical wall into halves, each of which is still further separated into three irregular cavities by three bones, called spongy, from the porosity and delicacy of their texture.
Hygienic Physiology : with Special Reference to the Use of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics Joel Dorman Steele
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The results showed that specific details of the cranial bones and beak - such as the relative "spongy"-ness of the bone at different places in the skull and the unequal lengths of the upper and lower parts of the beak - were crucial for preventing impact injury.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Telegraph Staff 2011
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If the bosky scent of dells and the idea of spongy moss against naked flesh gets you going, Mellors and Lady Chatterley-style, there remain a few pockets of urban woodland in London that provide fertile ground for al fresco fun.
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Has anyone ever had an issue with baked eggs becoming "spongy"?
South Beach Diet Phase One Breakfast Casserole Many Ways Kalyn Denny 2009
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That roof can get very, very -- what we call kind of spongy because it's being impinged by the fire.
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A huge imponderable is how, and for how long, this trauma, and what promises to be a long, often shadowy war against what Rudman calls "spongy" targets, will affect American realism.
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Robotics experts also have been searching for the right kind of spongy material to mimic muscle tissue and make movements less jerky.
Boing Boing: December 22, 2002 - December 28, 2002 Archives 2002
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