Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Nearby Entries

mushroom

- 7 dictionary results

mush⋅room

[muhsh-room, -room]
–noun
1. any of various fleshy fungi including the toadstools, puffballs, coral fungi, morels, etc.
2. any of several edible species, esp. of the family Agaricaceae, as Agaricus campestris (meadow mushroom or field mushroom), cultivated for food in the U.S.
3. anything of similar shape or correspondingly rapid growth.
4. a large, mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke or rubble, formed in the atmosphere as a result of an explosion, esp. a nuclear explosion.
–adjective
5. of, consisting of, or containing mushrooms: a mushroom omelet.
6. resembling a mushroom in shape or form.
7. of rapid growth and often brief duration: mushroom towns of the gold-rush days.
–verb (used without object)
8. to spread, grow, or develop quickly.
9. to gather mushrooms.
10. to have or assume the shape of a mushroom.

Origin:
1350–1400; alter. (by folk etym.) of ME muscheron, musseroun < MF mousseron ≪ LL mussiriōn-, s. of mussiriō


mush⋅room⋅like, adjective
mush⋅room⋅y, adjective
mush·room   (mŭsh'rōōm', -rŏŏm')   
n.  
  1. Any of various fleshy fungi of the class Basidiomycota, characteristically having an umbrella-shaped cap borne on a stalk, especially any of the edible kinds, as those of the genus Agaricus.
  2. Something shaped like one of these fungi.
intr.v.   mush·roomed, mush·room·ing, mush·rooms
  1. To multiply, grow, or expand rapidly: The population mushroomed in the postwar decades.
  2. To swell or spread out into a shape similar to a mushroom.
adj.  
  1. Relating to, consisting of, or containing mushrooms: mushroom sauce.
  2. Resembling mushrooms in rapidity of growth or evanescence: mushroom towns.

[Alteration (influenced by room) of Middle English musheron, from Anglo-Norman moscheron, musherum, from Old French mousseron, from Medieval Latin musariō, musariōn-.]

Mushroom

Mush"room\, n. [OE. muscheron, OF. mouscheron, F. mousseron; perhaps fr. mousse moss, of German origin. See Moss.]

1. (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.

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

Mushroom

Mush"room\, a. 1. Of or pertaining to mushrooms; as, mushroom catchup.

2. 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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.
Language Translation for : mushroom
Spanish: seta, champiñón,
German: der Pilz,
Japanese: マッシュルーム

mushroom 
1440 (attested as a surname, John Mussheron, from 1327), from Anglo-Fr. musherun, perhaps from L.L. mussirionem (nom. mussirio), though this may as well be borrowed from Fr. Barnhart says "of uncertain origin." Klein calls it "a word of pre-Latin origin, used in the North of France;" OED says it usually is held to be a derivative of Fr. mousse "moss," and Weekley agrees, saying it is properly "applied to variety which grows in moss." For the final -m he refers to grogram, vellum, venom. Used figuratively for "sudden appearance in full form" from 1590s. The verb meaning "expand or increase rapidly" is first recorded 1903. In ref. to the shape of clouds after explosions, etc., it is attested from 1916, though the actual phrase mushroom cloud does not appear until 1958.

Main Entry: mush·room
Pronunciation: 'm&sh-"rüm, -"rum
Function: noun
1 : an enlarged complex fleshy fruiting body of a fungus (asmost basidiomycetes) that arises from an underground mycelium and consists typically of a stem bearing a spore-bearing structure; especially : one that is edible —compare TOADSTOOL
2 : FUNGUS 1
mushroom   (mŭsh'rm')  Pronunciation Key 


(click for larger image in new window)

Any of various basidiomycete fungi whose mycelium produces a spore-dispersing body (called a basidioma) that usually consists of a stalk topped by a fleshy, often umbrella-shaped cap. Some species of mushrooms are edible, though many are poisonous. The term mushroom is often applied to the stalk and cap alone. See more at basidiomycete.
Search another word or see mushroom on Thesaurus | Reference
>