destroying angel

American  

noun

1. any of several deadly poisonous mushrooms of the genus Amanita, having a white cap and stem, white spores, and a conspicuous volva at the base of the stem.

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destroying angel British  

noun

1. a white slender very poisonous basidiomycetous toadstool, Amanita virosa, having a pronounced volva, frilled, shaggy stalk, and sickly smell

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Etymology

Origin of destroying angel

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Norgren often accompanies Lightner on his gathering forays, steering him clear of Destroying Angel mushrooms and hemlocks and singling out oddities like an orange parasitic vine called dodder.

From New York Times • Oct. 18, 2010

As if by the hand of the Destroying Angel the dread scourge spread through the camp, striking down men on every side, irrespective of race, creed, or age.

From A Gallant Grenadier A Tale of the Crimean War by Brereton, F. S. (Frederick Sadleir)

Several sensational sheets ran exhaustive résumés, elaborately illustrated, of the public life of "The Destroying Angel."

From The Destroying Angel by Vance, Louis Joseph

I heard of a Destroying Angel as some more happy child might hear in England of a bishop or a rural dean, with vague respect and without the wish for further information.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 5 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

The professional prophets said, with an excellent assumption of absolute conviction, that it was nothing less awful than the Destroying Angel himself in propria persona.

From The World Peril of 1910 by Griffith, George Chetwynd