mushroom cloud
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mushroom cloud
First recorded in 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The book includes numerous photos of the Gadget in its final form, as well as a diagram of what scientists thought the mushroom cloud would look like.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Footage shows the towering rocket erupt in an inferno, followed by a mushroom cloud of smoke as bystanders gathered to watch the launch gasp "Oh no!" and "Oh my God!"
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
But Wright, whose agency oversees testing, said people living in the Nevada desert should have "no worries" about seeing a mushroom cloud.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2025
Federal investigators later concluded that the open burn and the black mushroom cloud it produced were unnecessary, but it was too late.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2024
The cometary impact and fireball would simulate all effects of a one- megaton nuclear burst, including the mushroom cloud, with two exceptions: there would be no gamma radiation or radioactive fallout.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
