Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mushroom"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mushroom
n 1: common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the
inedible toadstool) [ant: {toadstool}]
2: any of various fleshy fungi of the subdivision Basidiomycota
consisting of a cap at the end of a stem arising from an
underground mycelium
3: a large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and
rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a
nuclear bomb) [syn: {mushroom cloud}, {mushroom-shaped
cloud}]
4: fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi
v 1: pick or gather mushrooms; "We went mushrooming in the Fall"
2: grow and spread fast; "The problem mushroomed"
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