sponge

Rather than removing damaged tooth material and placing a filling, a dentist uses a tiny sponge tipped applicator to paint the liquid directly onto the cavity.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026

Kreiz has been involved in major restructurings too and can act as something of a pain sponge for Ellison when the company starts making its cuts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

He smooths the features of the head -- which he says weighs more than a ton -- with a yellow sponge, while another craftsman adds clay to the fingers of the enormous hands.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Francesca says she eats bread with Nutella for breakfast, a chocolate-filled sponge cake as a snack, pasta with lentils for lunch and usually chicken for dinner.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

In 1958, some three thousand years later, photojournalist Peter Throckmorton was completing his second summer aboard a sponge diving vessel captained by Kemal Aras.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

A reef ecosystem collapses when hard corals -- which build its living foundation -- largely disappear and are replaced by algae, rubble and sponges.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

The hero of bog creation, Ms. Turetsky relates, is sphagnum moss, one of nature’s most efficient sponges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The geographic features are hot spots of biodiversity, with corals, sponges and even an octopus garden, just like in the Beatles song.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Mosquitoes, glass sponges, and earthworms are among the lineages that stand out in this way.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026

He washed his dirty matted hair and bathed him with the soap and sponges.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

The magnesium had an unexpected beneficial effect: It "sponged out" inadvertent impurities in the tantalum and, as a result, raised the temperature at which it operates as a superconductor.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024

Pastor Pam and Jen lowered me gently to the ground, a kneeling, knowledgeable Officer K sponged me to consciousness and remained with me until the Fire Department arrived.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022

In 1842, the astronomer Chuang calls "the rock star scientist of his generation" introduced the cyanotype process, in which an iron salt solution is sponged or brushed onto paper to sensitize it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2018

Within seconds, Mrs. Pitts blinked in surprise, her features relaxing, as if the doctor had sponged away her pain lines.

From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2016

Lee came in from the kitchen and put a damp towel in his hands, and Adam sponged his eyes and handed it back.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Alice spends her days cleaning Lady Jemima’s stinky shoes, sponging her underwear and greasing her long blonde hair.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

There’s a lot of scraping and sponging involved.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 19, 2023

He hung around the Cincinnati station at all hours, sponging up shot composition and camera angles.

From New York Times ● May 18, 2022

I’ve got her stool and her bucket and her towel, and I’m sponging her off on a nightly basis, sending her back into the fray.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2022

It may have been the pregnancy, sponging up my adrenaline.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood