# mushroom

Pronunciation: say "MUSH-room" /ˈmʌʃˌɹuːm/

## Noun

1. A fungus with a fleshy, usually capped and stalked fruiting body that grows above ground, or that fruiting body itself; many kinds are edible.
   - Simple: A fungus that grows from the ground or on wood, usually with a stem and a round cap. Some can be eaten.
   - _The mushroom pushed up through the damp soil overnight._
   - _Several mushrooms had sprouted along the rotting log._
2. The common edible species Agaricus bisporus, the kind most often used in cooking.
   - Simple: The common white or brown kind of fungus sold in stores and used in cooking.
   - _She stuffed each mushroom with breadcrumbs and fresh herbs._
   - _The recipe calls for a cup of finely chopped mushrooms._
5. Short for mushroom cloud: the mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke and debris that rises after a very large explosion, especially a nuclear one. — Ellipsis of mushroom cloud.
   - Simple: Short for mushroom cloud. The tall, mushroom-shaped cloud that rises after a powerful explosion.
   - _The test sent a towering mushroom above the atoll._
   - _Cameras captured the mushroom spreading against the dawn sky._

## Adjective

3. Resembling a mushroom in some way, such as in shape, appearance, rapid growth, or texture.
   - Simple: Looking or acting like a mushroom, in shape, color, fast growth, or feel.
   - _The architect favored a mushroom silhouette for the plaza canopy._
   - _The park has a mushroom fountain, with water spilling over its wide, round top._

## Verb

4. To grow quickly to a large size, or to increase rapidly in scope or scale.
   - Simple: To grow very fast and become much bigger, or to spread quickly.
   - _Demand for the app mushroomed within weeks of its launch._
   - _Cities tend to mushroom when a new industry arrives._
6. To gather wild mushrooms, usually from woods or fields.
   - Simple: To go out into woods or fields to collect wild mushrooms.
   - _When we went mushrooming in the hills, my grandparents showed us which ones were safe to eat._
   - _On cool autumn weekends, she goes mushrooming in the state forest near her cabin._
7. To spread out at the top or tip into a mushroom shape, as a rivet head when hammered or a bullet on striking a target.
   - Simple: To spread out at the end into a shape like a mushroom, as a bullet does when it hits something.
   - _The rivet head mushroomed as the hammer struck it repeatedly._
   - _Soft lead tends to mushroom when pressed against a hard surface._

## Noun

8. A person who rises suddenly from humble beginnings to wealth or status; an upstart. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A person who suddenly rises from a low place in life to a high one.
   - _The duchess refused to receive such a mushroom at her table._
   - _These newly rich mushrooms had neither land nor lineage to recommend them._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A thing that grows very quickly or seems to spring up all at once.
- (noun) A concrete column whose top is enlarged so that it can bear a slab above it.
- (noun) Any of the mushroom-shaped pegs in the game of bar billiards.

## Origin

The word came into Middle English as muscheron from Anglo-Norman and Old French, of obscure origin. It probably derives from Old French mosse or moise ("moss"), since the name was first applied to a fungus that grows in moss; alternatively the Old French form may be of pre-Roman origin. It is a doublet of moss and mousse.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mushroom (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).