mushroom

[muhsh-room, -roo m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mushroom ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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.

anything of similar shape or correspondingly rapid growth.

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

adjective

of, consisting of, or containing mushrooms: a mushroom omelet.

resembling a mushroom in shape or form.

of rapid growth and often brief duration: mushroom towns of the gold-rush days.

verb (used without object)

to spread, grow, or develop quickly.

to gather mushrooms.

to have or assume the shape of a mushroom.

Origin of mushroom

1350–1400; alteration (by folk etymology) of Middle English muscheron, musseroun < Middle French mousseron ≪ Late Latin mussiriōn-, stem of mussiriō

Related formsmush·room·like, adjectivemush·room·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mushroom

explode, proliferate, boom, burgeon, flourish, expand, detonate, augment, burst, luxuriate, increase, spread, grow

Examples from the Web for mushroom

Contemporary Examples of mushroom

For Iraq, it was the WMDs and the mushroom clouds (and yes, they were lies, people, not intelligence failures).
Can America Still Win Wars?
Michael Tomasky
October 4, 2014
If you could have a mushroom granola bar a half-hour before you work out, well, that would be ideal.
Mushrooms Are Magic for Women Trying to Lose Weight
Liza Gates
May 22, 2014
After determining that the bee pollen and mushroom broth were inedible, the “detox” quickly went downhill.
We Were Gwyneth’s GOOP Guinea Pigs
Erin Cunningham, Olivia Nuzzi
March 30, 2014
They are specifically designed to ‘flatten out and mushroom’ when striking human tissue, and are intended to cause maximum damage.
Blacking Out the Oscar Pistorius Media Circus
Kelly Berold
March 11, 2014
Then a 20-story-high mushroom cloud of smoke came rolling up the street toward us.
New York Journalists Remember the First Moments of 9/11
Abby Haglage
September 11, 2013

Historical Examples of mushroom

Love that grows like a mushroom lasts about as long—only I don't call it love!
Good Indian
B. M. Bower
Essence of anchovy is made sometimes with sherry, or madeira, instead of water, or with the addition of mushroom ketchup.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
This mushroom is especially free from grubs and it can be dried for winter use.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
The spores are the seeds or reproductive bodies of the mushroom.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
Thicken the sauce with butter rolled in flour, season it with pepper and salt, essence of anchovy, and mushroom ketchup.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton

British Dictionary definitions for mushroom

mushroom

noun

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 edibleCompare pileus, toadstool
(as modifier)mushroom soup

the fungus producing any of these structures

something resembling a mushroom in shape or rapid growth
(as modifier)mushroom expansion

verb (intr)

to grow rapidlydemand mushroomed overnight

to assume a mushroom-like shape

to gather mushrooms

Word Origin for mushroom

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mushroom

mid-15c., muscheron, musseroun (attested 1327 as a surname, John Mussheron), from Anglo-French musherun, Old French meisseron (11c., Modern French mousseron), perhaps from Late Latin mussirionem (nominative mussirio), though this might as well be borrowed from French. Barnhart says "of uncertain origin." Klein calls it "a word of pre-Latin origin, used in the North of France;" OED says it usually is held to be a derivative of French mousse "moss" (from Germanic), and Weekley agrees, saying it is properly "applied to variety which grows in moss," but Klein says they have "nothing in common." For the final -m Weekley refers to grogram, vellum, venom. Modern spelling is from 1560s.

Used figuratively for something or someone that makes a sudden appearance in full form from 1590s. In reference to the shape of clouds after explosions, etc., it is attested from 1916, though the actual phrase mushroom cloud does not appear until 1955.

"expand or increase rapidly," 1741, from mushroom (n.). Related: Mushroomed; mushrooming.

mushroom in Science

mushroom

[mŭsh′rōōm′]

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. See more at basidiomycete.