slime mould

British

noun

any of various simple spore-producing organisms typically found as slimy masses on rotting vegetation, where they engulf food particles by amoeboid movements. Formerly regarded as fungi, they are now classified as protoctists of the phyla Myxomycota (true, or cellular slime moulds) or Acrasiomycota (plasmodial slime moulds)

"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

Example Sentences

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The RHS says slime mould has been used in some "incredible practical applications", including urban transport mapping simulations and in the search for dark matter.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

His photo “Life Under Dead Wood” featured fruiting slime mould alongside a tiny, energetic springtail.

From BBC • Oct. 8, 2024

The beauty of slime mould is revealed in a picture by Jason McCombe, who won the Botanical Britain category.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2024

"The Craterium minutum slime mould was found on decaying vegetation, at the edge of a compost heap in my garden, captured following a hard frost," said Webb.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2024

Fig. 5.—A, a portion of a slime mould growing on a bit of rotten wood, × 3.

From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023