sponged

verb

past tense of sponge
1
as in drank
to take in (something liquid) through small openings the ground quickly sponged up the much-needed rain

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in begged
to live by relying on someone else's generosity or hospitality without sharing in the cost or responsibility she's been sponging off of her friends while she tries to land an entry-level job on Wall Street

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sponged
  1. drank
  2. begged
  3. absorbed
Verb
  • The company behind the beer Sam Adams told NBC Boston its Boston Taproom ran out of Samuel Adams Boston Lager one weekend because of the Tartan Army, which drank four times as much beer as is consumed on a typical four-day weekend.
    — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 19 July 2026
  • Instead, James drank wine, entertained recruiting pitches and served up a whole lot of nothing.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of drank
Verb
  • Worked, begged, slept in attics and basements and under benches in parks.
    — Gabriel Winslow-Yost, New Yorker, 30 July 2026
  • Riders begged Pogačar, the peloton’s patron, for an opportunity.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 26 July 2026
Definition of begged
Verb
  • Flores absorbed the method in Tambo Mayo, a village along the Ucayali River in northeastern Peru where she was born in 1950.
    — Gabriella Angeleti, The New York Review of Books, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Quickly stir until most of the flour is absorbed, then cook, stirring vigorously and breaking up pockets of dry flour as needed, until a thin film forms on bottom and sides of pan and dough comes together into a single mass, 2–3 minutes.
    — Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of absorbed
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

sponge
sponged
sponger
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sponged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sponged. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on sponged

Nglish: Translation of sponged for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All