Spunge

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A soft porous mass that soaks up liquid, or the aquatic animal it comes from ; to wipe or clean something with such a mass ; to live at others' expense by taking favors without giving anything back
2. An absorbent porous material used for washing, or a simple marine creature with a skeleton full of holes ; to mop or dab a surface clean with one ; to freeload off other people and rely on their generosity
3. Porous material that soaks up water, also the marine organism of the same name ; to clean or dab a surface with that material ; to depend on others for support while contributing nothing in return

Etymology: "Spunge" is simply an older spelling of "sponge," and the spelling tells a small story about how English has handled the word over the centuries. The word's ancestor is the Ancient Greek "spongiá," derived from "spóngos," and it reached English through Latin "spongia." Old English already had the form "spunge," which is why the older spelling looks so close to the Old English one, while the modern form is more faithful to the Latin and Greek shape. Before the Latin borrowing took hold, English speakers had a native word for the same object. Old English "swamm" meant "fungus" or "sponge," and the imported term gradually pushed it out of use. The loss of that older word means the sponge, a porous marine animal and bathing tool alike, ended up named after a Greek term for the sea creature's absorbent body rather than after a plant-like growth, as the native word suggested.