mushroom Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the inedible toadstool)
noun mushrooms and related fleshy fungi (including toadstools, puffballs, morels, coral fungi, etc.)
noun any of various fleshy fungi of the subdivision Basidiomycota consisting of a cap at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium
noun a large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb)
mushroom cloud; mushroom-shaped cloud.
noun fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi
verb pick or gather mushrooms
- We went mushrooming in the Fall
verb grow and spread fast
- The problem mushroomed

OE. muscheron, OF. mouscheron, F. mousseron; perhaps fr. mousse moss, of German origin. See Moss.

(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, especially one of the genus Agaricus; a toadstool. Several species are edible; but many are very poisonous. (b) any fungus developing a visible fruiting body with a stem and cap, usu. of the basidiomycetes. -- a term used most often for edible varieties
One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart. Bacon.

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 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