death cap

American  

[deth kap] / ˈdɛθ ˌkæp /

noun

1. a deadly poisonous mushroom of the genus Amanita, especially A. phalloides, with a distinctive membranous cup around the base of the stalk. Death caps resemble a number of edible mushrooms and are responsible for more deaths than any other species of mushroom.

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death cap British  

noun

1. a poisonous woodland saprotrophic basidiomycetous fungus, Amanita phalloides, differing from the edible mushroom ( Agaricus ) only in its white gills (pinkish-brown in Agaricus ) and the presence of a volva See also amanita

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Etymology

Origin of death cap

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

death cap

Patterson's lawyers have also argued a prosecution theory about how the death cap mushrooms were located and foraged should not have been allowed to be put to the jury.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Some evidence accepted by the judge -- relating to Facebook messages, cell towers and posts of death cap mushroom sightings -- was not relevant or was unfairly prejudicial to her case, her lawyer said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Firstly, there are bits of evidence Patterson's lawyers say the jurors should never have seen: for example, mobile phone tracking data that indicated she'd travelled to places where death cap mushrooms were recently spotted.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Some evidence accepted by the judge -- relating to Facebook messages, cell towers and posts of death cap mushroom sightings -- was not relevant or unfairly prejudicial to her case, her lawyer said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Akin to the preparation of one’s coffin, and storing it in one’s domicil, for years perhaps, is the preparation of one’s shroud, and death cap, and all the et cætera of laying out.

From Dealings with the Dead, Volume I (of 2) by A Sexton of the Old School