mushroom

[ muhsh-room, -room ]

noun

1. any of various fleshy fungi including the toadstools, puffballs, coral fungi, morels, etc.
2. any of several edible species, especially of the family Agaricaceae, as Agaricus campestris meadow mushroom, or field mushroom, cultivated for food in the U.S.
3. anything of similar shape or correspondingly rapid growth.
4. a large, mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke or rubble, formed in the atmosphere as a result of an explosion, especially a nuclear explosion.

adjective

1. of, consisting of, or containing mushrooms:

   a mushroom omelet.

2. resembling a mushroom in shape or form.
3. of rapid growth and often brief duration:

   mushroom towns of the gold-rush days.

verb (used without object)

1. to spread, grow, or develop quickly.
2. to gather mushrooms.
3. to have or assume the shape of a mushroom.

mushroom

/ -rʊm; ˈmʌʃruːm /

noun

1. 1. the fleshy spore-producing body of any of various basidiomycetous fungi, typically consisting of a cap (pileus) at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium. Some species, such as the field mushroom, are edible Compare pileus toadstool
   2. ( as modifier )

      mushroom soup

2. the fungus producing any of these structures
3. 1. something resembling a mushroom in shape or rapid growth
   2. ( as modifier )

      mushroom expansion

verb

1. to grow rapidly

   demand mushroomed overnight

2. to assume a mushroom-like shape
3. to gather mushrooms

mushroom

/ mŭsh′ro̅o̅m′ /

1. Any of various fungi that produce a fleshy fruiting body, which usually consists of a stalk topped by an umbrella-shaped cap. Many mushrooms are basidiomycetes. Some species of mushrooms are edible, though many are poisonous. The term mushroom is often applied to the stalk and cap alone.
2. See more at basidiomycete

Other Words From

• mushroom·like adjective
• mushroom·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mushroom¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; alteration (by folk etymology) of Middle English muscheron, musseroun, from Middle French mousseron, ultimately from Late Latin mussiriōn-, stem of mussiriō

Word History and Origins

Origin of mushroom¹

C15: from Old French mousseron, from Late Latin mussiriō, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

We get our beef on Wednesdays, clean it and create all the necessary components including the crepes, mushroom duxelle and puff pastry on Thursdays.

From Salon

Alta Adams’ chili crisp blends Fresno chiles smoked in-house and dehydrated, house-roasted peanuts, porcini mushroom powder and Ethiopian berbere spice.

From Los Angeles Times

I’ll have a magic mushroom slice, please.

From Slate

In the early 1990s, Massry, fresh off another firing, came back north to Lake George and took over his parents’ souvenir store, then called the Mushroom Tree, with his brother Norman.

From Slate

"I genuinely need to think about getting a 1-Up mushroom tattooed on my arm," she says, referring to the famous Super Mario Bros extra life power-up.

From BBC

Related Words

• boom
• burgeon
• expand
• explode
• flourish
• proliferate
• shoot up