toadstool

American  

[tohd-stool] / ˈtoʊdˌstul /

noun

• toadstools
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• toadstools
  plural

Etymology

Origin of toadstool

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

Explanation

A toadstool might sound like something you'd find a fairy living under, but it's really just a poisonous mushroom. If you're walking in the woods and see especially colorful, mushrooms, they're probably toadstools. In other words, it's not a good idea to eat them. You can use the terms mushroom and toadstool interchangeably — although most people save toadstool for fairy tales and poisonous fungi; it's not a scientific term. The root is probably just the creative combination of the Middle English tadde, "toad," and stole, "stool."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

toadstool toadstools

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 ● Jun. 18, 2025

Wearing a toadstool headdress and a skirt embellished with Medusas, El Beh has one of the most striking looks — though the orange ram’s horns on Trebien Pollard are quite something, too.

From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2022

Kind of like an Alice in Wonderland toadstool, only made of tender cake and studded with jammy blueberries.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2021

The most unlikely discovery was a toadstool growing among trees beside a reservoir at Heathrow Airport, which was found by fungi expert Andy Overall.

From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2020

“Nice commentary last match!” said Ron to Luna as she took back the green onion, the toadstool, and the cat litter.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

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 ● Dec. 12, 2025

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

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2024

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

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2023

Mycelium, like yeast, molds and toadstools, are neither animals nor plants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2023

Mama paused and again she reached out and fingered one of the little toadstools.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls