toadstool

American  

[tohd-stool] / ˈtoʊdˌstul /

noun

1. any of various mushrooms having a stalk with an umbrellalike cap, especially the agarics.

2. a poisonous mushroom, as distinguished from an edible one.

3. any of various other fleshy fungi, as the puffballs and coral fungi.

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toadstool British  

/ ˈtəʊdˌstuːl /

noun

1. (not in technical use) any basidiomycetous fungus with a capped spore-producing body that is not edible Compare mushroom

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Etymology

Origin of toadstool

First recorded in 1350–1400, toadstool is from the Middle English word tadstol. See toad, stool

Explanation

A toadstool might sound like something you'd find a fairy living under, but it's really just a poisonous mushroom. If you're walking in the woods and see especially colorful, mushrooms, they're probably toadstools. In other words, it's not a good idea to eat them. You can use the terms mushroom and toadstool interchangeably — although most people save toadstool for fairy tales and poisonous fungi; it's not a scientific term. The root is probably just the creative combination of the Middle English tadde, "toad," and stole, "stool."

Example Sentences

Is it a “fruiting body,” better known as the toadstool, that emerges from the ground in a panoply of shapes and textures?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2025

Simpler than all that, this toadstool is for anyone who enjoys decorating a tree.

From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2021

Kind of like an Alice in Wonderland toadstool, only made of tender cake and studded with jammy blueberries.

From Salon • Sep. 12, 2021

He has named the toadstool, Cortinarius heatherae, after his wife Heather.

From BBC • Dec. 17, 2020

“A mushroom! Is that why you came up with the toadstool look if she loses? Why didn’t I see that before?”

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman