Phrase guide

sponge cake

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A light, soft, baked dessert (commonly layered with cream and jam) that is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, and has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to that of a sea sponge.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • I made a sponge cake the other day. It was a disaster: I forgot the baking powder! It didn't rise!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something that is simple or very easy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, figuratively, informal, uncommon, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a light porous cake made with eggs and flour and sugar without shortening

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cake

Narrower terms: angel cake, angel food cake, jellyroll, Swiss roll, Madeira cake, Madeira sponge, Twinkie

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

65 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: pandispanjë — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Arabic: كَعْكَة إسْفَنْجِيَّة — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Armenian: բիսկվիթ (biskvitʻ) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Asturian: bizcuechu — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Asturian: bizcochu — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Basque: bizkotxo — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Belarusian: біскві́т (biskvít) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Bulgarian: пандишпа́н (pandišpán) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Catalan: pa de pessic — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Catalan: bescuit — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Chinese Cantonese: 海綿蛋糕 /海绵蛋糕 (hoi2 min4 daan6 gou1) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Chinese Mandarin: 海綿蛋糕 /海绵蛋糕 (hǎimián dàngāo) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Dutch: biscuitgebak — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Esperanto: spongkuko — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Esperanto: spongokuko — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Estonian: keeks — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Finnish: sokerikakku — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • French: sponge cake — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • French: génoise — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Galician: biscoito — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Galician: bolo esponxoso — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Galician: bica — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • German: Biskuit — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • German: Biskuitkuchen — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • German: Biskuitmasse — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Greek: παντεσπάνι (pantespáni) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Hebrew: עוּגַת סְפוֹג (ugát s'fog) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Hungarian: piskóta — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Icelandic: svampterta — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Indonesian: kue sponge — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Irish: císte spúinse — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Italian: pandispagna — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Italian: pan di Spagna — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Japanese: スポンジケーキ (suponji kēki) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Japanese: スポンジ生地 (suponji kiji) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Kazakh: бисквит (biskvit) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Korean: 스펀지 케이크 (seupeonji keikeu) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Lithuanian: biskvitas — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Macedonian: пандишпа́н (pandišpán) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sukkerbrød — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sukkerbrød — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Persian: کیک اسفنجی (keyk-e esfanji) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Polish: biszkopt — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Polish: ciasto biszkoptowe — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Polish: biskwit — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Portuguese: pão de ló — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Portuguese: bolo esponjoso — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Romanian: chec — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Romanian: pandișpan — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Russian: бискви́т (biskvít) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Spanish: bizcocho — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Swedish: sockerkaka — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Thai: เค้กฟองน้ํา (kéek fɔɔng-nám) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Thai: สปันจ์เค้ก (sà-bpan kéek) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Thai: สาลี่ (sǎa-lîi) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Turkish: pandispanya — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Turkish: sünger kek — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Ukrainian: біскві́т (biskvít) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Ukrainian: біскві́тне ті́сто (biskvítne tísto) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Uzbek: biskvit — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Vietnamese: bánh bông lan — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Welsh: teisen sbwnj — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Welsh: teisen felen — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Yiddish: לעקעך (lekekh) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure
  • Yiddish: צוקער־לעקעך (tsuker-lekekh) — type of soft cake made from flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs, with a spongy structure