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Glite Dictionary
sponge mop

sponge mop

2.1
A mop with a soft sponge on a handle that soaks up water to clean floors
  • noun
  • /spʌndʒ mɑp/
translation icon : mopa de esponja
  • She used a sponge mop to clean the kitchen floor quickly and easily.

Examples

  • To maintain the shine of the floors, Jenny made sure to always have a sponge mop handy.

  • It really does get all the corners that my sponge mop won't get.

    Joy (2015)

  • After spilling juice on the tiles, he grabbed his sponge mop to wipe it up.

Synonyms

mop
vssponge mop
107 1.0

A tool with a long handle and soft cloth used to wash floors

is a specific form using an attached absorbent block for wet floor washing

How Effective

microfiber
  • US
4 3.7
sponge mop
2.1
mop
107 1.0
cloth
215 1.0
dust mop
1 2.4

Surface Forms

sponge mop singular
sponge mops plural

Morphology

sponge + mop

The compound is a straightforward noun–noun composition: a mop whose head is made of or uses a sponge, so the meaning is directly derivable from 'sponge' + 'mop'. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows transparent English noun compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the term.

Etymology

Sponge mop comes from a simple picture: a soft sponge attached to a long handle like a mop, so it soaks up water and spills when you wipe the floor, and that's why it means 'a cleaning tool that absorbs liquid'.