MUSHROOM • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Mushroom

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/mˈəʃrum/ Listen

noun

Mushroom n.

(Bot.)

(a)

An edible fungus (Agaricus campestris), having a white stalk which bears a convex or oven flattish expanded portion called the pileus. This is whitish and silky or somewhat scaly above, and bears on the under side radiating gills which are at first flesh-colored, but gradually become brown. The plant grows in rich pastures and is proverbial for rapidity of growth and shortness of duration. It has a pleasant smell, and is largely used as food. It is also cultivated from spawn.

(b)

Any large fungus developing a visible fruiting body with a stem and cap, usu. of the basidiomycetes; especially One of the genus Agaricus; a toadstool. Several species are edible; but many are very poisonous. The term mushroom is used most often for edible varieties, the poisonous ones being termed toadstools or other names. But this distinction is often ignored.

One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart.

verb

mushroom v. i.

To grow or expand rapidly.

To grow so much and so rapidly as to change qualitatively; used with into; as, a minor border skirmish mushroomed into a full-blown war.

adjective

Mushroom adj.

Of or pertaining to mushrooms; as, mushroom catchup.

Resembling mushrooms in rapidity of growth and shortness of duration; short-lived; ephemerial; as, mushroom cities.

Mushroom anchor, an anchor shaped like a mushroom, capable of grasping the ground in whatever way it falls.

Mushroom coral (Zool.), any coral of the genus Fungia. See Fungia.

Mushroom spawn (Bot.), the mycelium, or primary filamentous growth, of the mushroom; also, cakes of earth and manure containing this growth, which are used for propagation of the mushroom.

mushroom cloud, a cloud of smoke rising and then spreading laterally to take on the shape of a mushroom caused by large fires or explosions, esp. nuclear explosions.

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Etymology of 'Mushroom'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Mushroom" Quotes from Famous Books

... Venetian mirror and saw myself like a rose in my rosy frock, with the apron of spotless muslin and the mushroom hat with a wreath of pink roses. My grandmother said something about dairying at the Petit Trianon, but indeed my intentions were ...

— The Story of Bawn • Katharine Tynan

... who have told me half an hour beforehand what we were going to meet. Another would bid his dog bring him a leaf, a branch, a flower, or a mushroom, and off he went, sought, found, and brought back the identical article required. "Now, sing," said the poacher, and the dog began to sing; not, indeed, exactly like Mario, but he produced a kind of melodious growl, a sort of improvised musical lament over ...

— Le Morvan, [A District of France,] Its Wild Sports, Vineyards and Forests; with Legends, Antiquities, Rural and Local Sketches • Henri de Crignelle

... the boy again and again. He returned to his corner, rubbed his fists into his eyes, and the tears rolled out under them. Then the two little girls— twins, it seemed, about four years old, in little mushroom hats—took their turns, and they put their fists into their eyes and cried, and then the two mothers began to cry, and the men, dabbing their eyes and puffing vigorously at their cigars, cried good-by over and over, and so at last we moved out of ...

— Antwerp to Gallipoli - A Year of the War on Many Fronts--and Behind Them • Arthur Ruhl

... nothing so much in itself—a thin spiral creeping upwards mast-high, then flattening out into a mushroom head—but it meant everything to me. Where there was fire there must be humanity, and where there was humanity—ay, to the very outlayers of the universe—there must be breakfast. It was a splendid thought; I rushed down the hillock and went gaily ...

— Gulliver of Mars • Edwin L. Arnold

... livers and then let them simmer until tender in a little strong soup stock, adding some sliced mushroom, minced onion, and a little pepper and salt. When thoroughly done mince the whole finely, or pound it in a mortar. Now put it back in the saucepan and mix well with the yolks of sufficient eggs to make the whole fairly moist. ...

— The International Jewish Cook Book • Florence Kreisler Greenbaum

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