sponger

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

sponger
    n 1: a workman employed to collect sponges
    2: a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the
       host) in hope of gain or advantage [syn: {leech}, {parasite},
       {sponge}, {sponger}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Sponger \Spon"ger\ (-j[~e]r), n.
   1. One who sponges, or uses a sponge.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. One employed in gathering sponges.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Fig.: A parasitical dependent; a hanger-on.
      [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

28 Moby Thesaurus words for "sponger":
      barnacle, beat, beggar, bloodsucker, bummer, cadger,
      coupon clippers, deadbeat, drone, freeloader, hanger-on, idle rich,
      leech, leisure class, lounge lizard, lumpen proletariat, mendicant,
      moocher, nonworker, panhandler, parasite, rentiers, smell-feast,
      spiv, sponge, sucker, the unemployable, the unemployed

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