mushroom

[muhsh-room, -room]

noun

1. any of various fleshy fungi including the toadstools, puffballs, coral fungi, morels, etc.

2. any of several edible species, especially of the family Agaricaceae, as Agaricus campestris meadow mushroom, or field mushroom, cultivated for food in the U.S.

3. anything of similar shape or correspondingly rapid growth.

4. a large, mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke or rubble, formed in the atmosphere as a result of an explosion, especially a nuclear explosion.

adjective

1. of, consisting of, or containing mushrooms.

   a mushroom omelet.

2. resembling a mushroom in shape or form.

3. of rapid growth and often brief duration.

   mushroom towns of the gold-rush days.

verb (used without object)

1. to spread, grow, or develop quickly.

2. to gather mushrooms.

3. to have or assume the shape of a mushroom.

mushroom

/ -rʊm, ˈmʌʃruːm /

noun

1. 1. the fleshy spore-producing body of any of various basidiomycetous fungi, typically consisting of a cap (pileus) at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium. Some species, such as the field mushroom, are edible Compare pileus toadstool

   2. ( as modifier )

      mushroom soup

2. the fungus producing any of these structures

3. 1. something resembling a mushroom in shape or rapid growth

   2. ( as modifier )

      mushroom expansion

verb

1. to grow rapidly

   demand mushroomed overnight

2. to assume a mushroom-like shape

3. to gather mushrooms

mushroom

1. Any of various fungi that produce a fleshy fruiting body, which usually consists of a stalk topped by an umbrella-shaped cap. Many mushrooms are basidiomycetes. Some species of mushrooms are edible, though many are poisonous. The term mushroom is often applied to the stalk and cap alone.

2. See more at basidiomycete

Other Word Forms

• mushroomlike adjective
• mushroomy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mushroom¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; alteration (by folk etymology) of Middle English muscheron, musseroun, from Middle French mousseron, ultimately from Late Latin mussiriōn-, stem of mussiriō

Word History and Origins

Origin of mushroom¹

C15: from Old French mousseron, from Late Latin mussiriō, of obscure origin

Example Sentences

In the darkness of her cozy bedchamber, with her moss-green bedspread and the drawer pulls in the shape of mushrooms, she could almost pretend she was in the forest already.

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But the 12-person company has built a reputation on the green economy scene in Brussels by recycling grounds from local coffee shops to grow edible mushrooms over the past decade.

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Cyber-scam operations have mushroomed across Southeast Asia -- often operating from unassuming office blocks or warehouses, where con artists target marks living on the other side of the world.

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He watched a huge yellow fireball rise and grow, turning orange, then red, kicking up towering swirls of dust, boiling itself into the shape of a giant mushroom.

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And where the mushrooms grew, the soil was darker, richer, healthier.

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Related Words

• boom 
• burgeon 
• expand 
• explode 
• flourish 
• proliferate 
• shoot up