Mushroom
Mushroom , noun
[Old English muscheron, Old French mouscheron, French mousseron; perhaps from mousse moss, of German origin. See Moss.]
1.
(a) (Botany) 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)
(Botany) Any large fungus developing a visible fruiting body with a stem and cap, usu. of the basidiomycetes;
(Botany) 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.
2.
One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart. — Bacon
Mushroom , adjective
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.
Collocations (4)
Mushroom anchor , an anchor shaped like a mushroom, capable of grasping the ground in whatever way it falls.
Mushroom spawn (Botany) , 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.
mushroom , intransitive verb
1.
to grow or expand rapidly.
2.
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.