Dictionary:

spongiform

  (spŭn'jĭ-fôrm')

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Resembling a sponge in appearance or texture; spongy.

[Latin spongia, sponge; see sponge + –FORM.]

Resembling a sponge, as in appearance or porosity.

Resembling a sponge.

• s. encephalopathy — a disease of the brain having the microscopic appearance of a sponge. The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) of animals and humans are Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans and its variant, Gertstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease in humans, kuru, fatal familial insomnia of humans, scrapie in sheep, goats and moufflon, transmissible encephalopathy of mink, chronic wasting disease of deer and elk, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), TSE of zoo ungulates, and feline spongiform encephalopathy. See also bovine spongiform encephalopathy, feline spongiform encephalopathy.