Truffle
Truffle (?; 277) , noun
[Old French trufle, French truffe; akin to Sp. trufa, tartufo; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Latin tuber a tumor, knob, truffle. Compare Tuber, Trifle.]
Any one of several kinds of roundish, subterranean fungi, usually of a blackish color. The French truffle (Tuber melanosporum) and the English truffle (Tuber aestivum) are much esteemed as articles of food.
When trained, certain pigs have a peculiar ability to smell truffles which lie underground, making them useful for searching out hidden truffles.
Collocations (1)
Truffle worm (Zoology) , the larva of a fly of the genus Leiodes, injurious to truffles.