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

The illnesses and deaths are primarily associated with amatoxin poisoning from people accidentally picking and eating death cap and western destroying angel mushrooms, according to the state.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

Two of the most toxic mushrooms that can be found in the state are the death cap and the western destroying angel mushroom, Amanita Ocreata.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2026

“There’s no antidote,” said Terrence Delaney, a plant biologist and mycologist at the University of Vermont who studies the toxin profiles of a related mushroom called the destroying angel.

From New York Times • May 16, 2023

He defines the destroying angel as “an absence of will, of purpose,” and says, “The feeling that the door is open but we don’t go through it is with us all the time.”

From The New Yorker • Aug. 15, 2016

It was like trying to stare down a destroying angel.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer