toadstool

American  

[tohd-stool] / ˈtoʊdˌstul /

noun

toadstools plural

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.

---

toadstool British  

/ ˈtəʊdˌstuːl /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• toadstools
  plural

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

Visitors can also eat at Toadstool Café and get Nintendo swag at “1-UP Factory store.”

From Reuters • Feb. 16, 2023

Even Super Nintendo World’s dining area, the Toadstool Cafe, promises interactions with Nintendo characters.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 14, 2022

Mario Golf: Super Rush is the first console installment in the series since 2003’s Toadstool Tour, and much has changed in the 18 years since then.

From Slate • Jun. 29, 2021

One reads “Famous for our flat, boring landscape” and shows hikers hopping among rock spires at northwest Nebraska’s Toadstool Geologic Park.

From Washington Times • Oct. 22, 2018

But the conquest of the Toadstool was harder than she expected.

From The Jolliest Term on Record A Story of School Life by Brazil, Angela