death cap

[ deth-kap ]

noun
  1. a deadly poisonous mushroom of the genus Amanita, especially A. phalloides, with a distinctive membranous cup around the base of the stalk. Death caps resemble a number of edible mushrooms and are responsible for more deaths than any other species of mushroom.

Origin of death cap

1
First recorded in 1900–05
  • Also called death cup [deth-kuhp] /ˈdɛθ ˌkʌp/ .

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How to use death cap in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for death cap

death cap

noun
  1. a poisonous woodland saprotrophic basidiomycetous fungus, Amanita phalloides, differing from the edible mushroom (Agaricus) only in its white gills (pinkish-brown in Agaricus) and the presence of a volva: See also amanita

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