Sponging

Verb

1. Present participle of sponge
• 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, – I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach!

Full definition of sponging

Noun

1. The application of a sponge.
• 1815, William Shearman, New Medical and Physical JournalI have employed cold air, and very often spongings with cold water, in order to moderate the preternatural heat of the skin, and to check the increased velocity of the circulation.