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

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slime mould

These images, captured by photographer Barry Webb, provide a close-up view of single-celled slime mould organisms.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

His photography focuses on the fruiting bodies of the slime mould, where the colour and drama are most intense, and from where spores are released.

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 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

Likewise, the slime mould growing in damp fields and forests all around us can exhibit remarkably coordinated behaviour.

From Open Source Democracy by Douglas Rushkoff

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