a. [f. SPONGI-.]
1. Resembling a sponge in structure; light and porous.
1805–17. R. Jameson, Char. Min. (ed. 3), 97. Spongiform. In this figure the cells are cylindrical.
1841. Penny Cycl., XIX. 199/2. Cavernous quartz is termed Spongiform quartz or Swimming stone.
1875. Encycl. Brit., III. 251/2. An infinite number of minute cavities, which render the product light and spongiform.
2. Zoologically resembling a sponge.
1839. De la Beche, Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. ix. 264. This view seems borne out by the alcyonic and other spongiform remains.
1876. Page, Adv. Text-bk. Geol., xv. 280. Of spongiform organisms we may mention mammillopora.
