sponge bag

sponge bag

English

Alternative forms

• sponge-bag
• spongebag

Noun

sponge bag (plural sponge bags)

1. (UK, Australia) A bag for carrying toiletries, as when travelling. [from 19th c.]
2. (chiefly UK) Designating clothing (especially trousers) with a fine, faint black-and-white check pattern. [from 20th c.]
   • 1934, Virginia Woolf, Diary, 8 May:

     In every hotel in Ireland sits a military man with […] a loud commanding voice, & spongebag coat & red slippers.

   • 1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin 2016, p. 36:

     Below her a small boat puttered quietly at the landing stage, and the chef appeared, in his sponge bag trousers and his white jacket, to tale the day's delivery of fresh perch.

Synonyms

• Dopp kit (US)

See also

• spongebags, spongebag pants, spongebag trousers