{Sponging house} (Eng. Law), a bailiff's or other house in which debtors are put before being taken to jail, or until they compromise with their creditors. At these houses extortionate charges are commonly made for food, lodging, etc. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
Sponging-house — A sponging house was a one time place of temporary confinement for debtors in the United Kingdom. If someone were to get into debt, their creditor would lay a complaint with the sheriff, the sheriff sent his bailiffs, and the debtor would be… … Wikipedia
sponging house — noun Etymology: sponging (gerund of sponge) (II) + house; from the extortionate charges made there for food and lodging : a house usually maintained by a bailiff for keeping debtors for a day to afford opportunity to come to terms with their… … Useful english dictionary
sponging-house — sponˈging house or spunˈging house noun (obsolete) A bailiff s lodging house for debtors in his custody before their committal to prison • • • Main Entry: ↑sponge … Useful english dictionary
sponging-house — A house where persons arrested for debt were kept for a day in order that their friends might have opportunity to keep them from going to prison by paying their debts … Ballentine's law dictionary
sponging-house — noun A place of temporary confinement for debtors, kept by a bailiff, where debtors were sponged of all money they had on themselves, before being transferred to debtors prison … Wiktionary
sponging house — jail for debtors, debtors prison … English contemporary dictionary
Sponging — Spon ging ( j[i^]ng), a. & n. from {Sponge}, v. [1913 Webster] {Sponging house} (Eng. Law), a bailiff s or other house in which debtors are put before being taken to jail, or until they compromise with their creditors. At these houses… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
spunging-house — noun sponging house … Wiktionary
Bleak House — For other uses, see Bleak House (disambiguation). Bleak House … Wikipedia
Marshalsea — The prison occupied two locations, the first c. 1329–1811, and the second 1811–1842. The image above is of the first Marshalsea in the 18th century … Wikipedia
