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

Taking photos of slime mould is not a simple process, although technology has made it much easier in recent years.

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

A slime mould consists of mobile, single-celled, amoeba-like organisms that live independently but can come together to function as a single entity in order to find food and reproduce.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2025

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

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 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

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