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.]

   Synonym: Dopp kit (US)

2. (chiefly UK) Designating clothing (especially trousers) with a fine, faint black-and-white check pattern. [from 20th c.]
   • 1934 May 8, Virginia Woolf, Diary:

     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, published 2016, page 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.

See also

• spongebag pants
• spongebags
• spongebag trousers