different between sponge vs loo

English

Etymology

From Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek ??????? (spongiá), related to ??????? (spóngos).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sp?nj, IPA^(key): /sp?nd??/
• Rhymes: -?nd?

Noun

sponge (countable and uncountable, plural sponges)

1. (countable) Any of various marine invertebrates, mostly of the phylum Porifera, that have a porous skeleton often of silica.

   Synonyms: sea sponge, bath sponge, poriferan, porifer

2. (countable) A piece of porous material used for washing (originally made from the invertebrates, now often made of plastic).

   Synonym: bath sponge
3. (uncountable) A porous material such as sponges consist of.
4. (informal) A heavy drinker.

   Synonyms: souse, swill-pot; see also Thesaurus:drunkard

5. (countable, uncountable) A type of light cake.

   Synonym: sponge cake

6. (countable, uncountable, Britain) A type of steamed pudding.

   Synonym: sponge pudding

7. (slang) A person who takes advantage of the generosity of others (abstractly imagined to absorb or soak up the money or efforts of others like a sponge).

   Synonyms: freeloader, sponger; see also Thesaurus:scrounger

8. (countable) A form of contraception that is inserted vaginally; a contraceptive sponge.
9. Any sponge-like substance.
   1. (baking) Dough before it is kneaded and formed into loaves, and after it is converted into a light, spongy mass by the agency of the yeast or leaven.
   2. Iron from the puddling furnace, in a pasty condition.
   3. Iron ore, in masses, reduced but not melted or worked.
10. A mop for cleaning the bore of a cannon after a discharge. It consists of a cylinder of wood, covered with sheepskin with the wool on, or cloth with a heavy looped nap, and having a handle, or staff.
11. The extremity, or point, of a horseshoe, corresponding to the heel.
12. (slang) A nuclear power plant worker routinely exposed to radiation.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Hindi: ????? (spañj)
• ? Japanese: ???? (suponji)
• ? Korean: ??? (seupeonji)
• ? Pashto: ????? (spanj)
• ? Welsh: spynj

Translations

See also

• foam

Verb

sponge (third-person singular simple present sponges, present participle sponging, simple past and past participle sponged)

1. (intransitive, slang) To take advantage of the kindness of others.

2. (transitive, intransitive with on or upon) To get by imposition; to scrounge.

   Synonym: blag

   • July 17 1735, Jonathan Swift, letter to Lord Ornery

     I am an utter stranger to the persons and places, except when half a score come to sponge on me every Sunday evening

3. (transitive) To deprive (somebody) of something by imposition.

   • How came such multitudes of our nation […] to be sponged of their plate and their money?

4. To clean, soak up, or dab with a sponge.
5. To suck in, or imbibe, like a sponge.
6. To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     Lett the eyes which have looked on Idols, sponge out their unlawfull acts

7. (intransitive, baking) To be converted, as dough, into a light, spongy mass by the agency of yeast or leaven.
8. (marine biology, of dolphins) To use a piece of wild sponge as a tool when foraging for food.

Translations

Further reading

• sponge on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• pengos, peng?s

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /lu?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /lu/
• Rhymes: -u?

Etymology 1

Clipped form of halloo.

Interjection

loo

1. A cry to urge on hunting dogs.
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear, Scene xi, ll. 1857 f.:

     Edg. Pilicock sate on pelicocks hill, a lo lo lo.

Alternative forms

• 'loo; lo, lowe (obsolete)

Derived terms

• loo in

Verb

loo (third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (now dialect, used with at, upon or infinitive) To urge on with cries of loo or (figuratively) by other shouting or outcry.
   • 1667, John Denham, "Directions to a Painter", ll. 21 f.:

     And therefore next uncouple either Hound [sc. George Monck and Prince Rupert],
     And loo them at two Hares ere one be found.

Etymology 2

Clipped form of lanterloo.

Noun

loo (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of lanterloo: the card game.
   • 1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, iii, 22:

     Ev'n mighty Pam that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
     And mow'd down Armies in the Fights of Lu.

   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, To Dr. Helsham, 16:

     Yet, ladies are seldom at ombre or lue sick.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, I, Ch. viii, p. 80:

     On entering the drawing-room, she found the whole party at loo.

2. The penalty paid to the pool in lanterloo for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick.
3. An act that prompts such a penalty.
4. A game of lanterloo.
5. (figuratively) Any group of people.

Alternative forms

• lu, liew, lue (obsolete)

Derived terms

Verb

loo (third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (transitive) To beat in the card game lanterloo.
   • 1847, Henry Cockton, The Love Match (page 232)

     He was seldom indeed without two good trumps, and therefore almost invariably loo'd those who stood.

2. To pay a penalty to the pool for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick in lanterloo.
3. (figuratively, now dialect) To pay any penalty to any community.

Translations

Etymology 3

From French loup (“wolf; mask, eyemask”). Doublet of wolf.

Noun

loo (plural loos)

1. (fashion, obsolete) A half-mask, particularly (historical) those velvet half-masks fashionable in the 17th century as a means of protecting women's complexion from the sun.
   • a. 1685, Mary Evelyn, "The Fop-dictionary" in Mundus Muliebris, p. 18:

     Loo Mask. An half Mask.

Derived terms

• loo mask

See also

• domino mask

Etymology 4

From Hindi ????? (ulk?), from Sanskrit ????? (ulk?, “flame”).

Noun

loo

1. (India) A hot dust-bearing wind found in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, "The Man Who Would be King" in The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, p. 78:

     It was a pitchy black night, as stifling as a June night can be, and the loo, the red-hot wind from the westward, was booming among the tinder-dry trees and pretending that the rain was on its heels.

Etymology 5

Of uncertain etymology, although usually derived in some way from Waterloo, the site of Wellington's 1815 victory over Napoleon, likely via a pun based on water closet. Other suggested derivations include corruptions of French l'eau (“water”), lieu (“place”), lieux d'aisances (“'places of convenience': a lavatory”), lieu à l'anglaise (“'English place': a British-style lavatory”), bordalou (“a diminutive chamber pot”) or gare l'eau (“'mind the water'”), via Scots gardyloo, formerly used in Edinburgh while emptying chamber pots out of windows; the supposed use of "Room 100" as the lavatory in Continental hotels; a popularisation of lew, a regional corruption of lee (“downwind”), in reference to shepherds' privies or the former use of beakheads on that side of the ship for urination and defecation; or a clipped form of the name of the unpopular 19th-century Countess of Lichfield Lady Harriett Georgiana Louisa Hamilton Anson, who was the subject of an 1867 prank whereby her bedroom's namecard was placed on the door to the lavatory, prompting the other guests to begin speaking of "going to Lady Louisa".

Noun

loo (plural loos)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
   • 1940, Nancy Mitford, Pigeon Pie, Ch. ii, p. 27:

     I suppose it is unreal because we have been expecting it [sc. World War II] for so long now, and have known that it must be got over before we can go on with our lives. Like in the night when you want to go to the loo and it is miles away down a freezing cold passage and yet you know you have to go down that passage before you can be happy and sleep again.

   • 2006, Garth Thompson & al., The Guide?s Guide to Guiding, 3rd ed., p. 160:

     Ensure that the tents are well-sited and clean, rubbish bins empty, and that the loos have toilet paper.

2. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.
   • 2009, Katharina Kane, Lonely Planet: The Gambia and Senegal, p. 275:

     The lack of running water in rural areas often makes Western-style loos hygienic disasters. Suddenly the noncontact squat toilet doesn?t look like such a bad option any more (as long as you roll up your trouser legs).

   • 2010, Meegan Jones, Sustainable Event Management, p. 206:

     Waterless urinals are a great way of keeping the guys out of the cubicle toilets, keeping the urine separated from the solid waste (when using composting loos) and reducing water consumption if you have flush loos.

Synonyms

• (room): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (fixture): See Thesaurus:toilet

Derived terms

• loo paper
• loo roll
• portaloo

Translations

Etymology 6

Clipped form of lieutenant.

Noun

loo

1. Lieutenant.
   • 2012, J. D. Robb, New York to Dallas, Penguin (?ISBN), page 91

     I asked my loo to let me escort you in. I wanted a moment to thank you personally.” “There's no need.” “So you said before, but there is. And was. I'll take you in to Lieutenant Ricchio.”

References

Anagrams

• OOL

Dutch

Alternative forms

• lo

Etymology

From Middle Dutch lôo, from Old Dutch l?, *l?h, from Proto-West Germanic *lauh, from Proto-Germanic *lauhaz. Cognate with English lea and leigh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lo?/
• Hyphenation: loo
• Rhymes: -o?

Noun

loo n or f (plural loo's or loon)

1. (historical, geography) A clearing in a forest.
   • 1906, Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, page 41.

2. (historical, geography) A forest on sandy soil with (many) clearings.
   • 1930, Nomina geographica Neerlandica, pages 9 & 10.

Derived terms

• Almelo
• Ermelo
• Hengelo
• Het Loo
• Twello
• Venlo
• Waterloo

Estonian

Noun

loo

1. genitive singular of lugu
2. genitive singular of lood
3. genitive singular of loog

Verb

loo

1. present indicative connegative of looma
2. second-person singular imperative of looma

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish lugu, comparative form of bec.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu?/

Adjective

loo

1. comparative degree of beg (“small, minor”)

See also

• smoo

Spanish

Verb

loo

1. First-person singular (yo) present indicative form of loar.

Xhosa

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lô?]

Pronoun

lóo

1. Alternative form of lowo

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lô?]

Pronoun

lóo

1. Alternative form of lowo