toadstool

American  

[tohd-stool] / ˈtoʊdˌstul /

noun

1. any of various mushrooms having a stalk with an umbrellalike cap, especially the agarics.

2. a poisonous mushroom, as distinguished from an edible one.

3. any of various other fleshy fungi, as the puffballs and coral fungi.

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toadstool British  

/ ˈtəʊdˌstuːl /

noun

1. (not in technical use) any basidiomycetous fungus with a capped spore-producing body that is not edible Compare mushroom

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Etymology

Origin of toadstool

First recorded in 1350–1400, toadstool is from the Middle English word tadstol. See toad, stool

Example Sentences

Stories multiply like toadstools in forest loam in the fiction of Thomas Pynchon, America’s most devout skeptic of the narrative urge, yet also one of its greatest exponents.

From The Wall Street Journal

Is it a “fruiting body,” better known as the toadstool, that emerges from the ground in a panoply of shapes and textures?

From Los Angeles Times

The course was a colorful jumble of pirate ships, giant butterflies, neon toadstools, and even half a school bus.

From Literature

Around a week later, she found a mould infestation in the property's bathroom, including toadstools growing from the floor.

From BBC

It doesn’t take long for the bigger cabbages to look like bolted toadstools on steroids.

From Seattle Times