Definition of "mushroom"

mushroom

/ˈmʌʃˌɹuːm/

noun
plural mushrooms
1. Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil or on their food sources (such as decaying wood).
2. A fungus producing such fruiting bodies.
3. Champignon or Agaricus bisporus, the mushroom species most commonly used in cooking.
4. Any of the mushroom-shaped pegs in bar billiards.
5. (architecture) A concrete column with a thickened portion at the top, used to support a slab.
6. (obsolete, figurative) One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart.
  Quotations
  upstarts […] call in reproach mushrooms
  1631, Francis [Bacon], “VI. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […]
7. (figurative) Something that grows very quickly or seems to appear suddenly.
8. Ellipsis of mushroom cloud.
adjective
not comparable
1. Having characteristics like those of a mushroom, for example in shape or appearance, speed of growth, or texture.
verb
third-person singular simple present mushrooms, present participle mushrooming, simple past and past participle mushroomed
1. (intransitive, figurative) To grow quickly to a large size or rapidly increase in scope or scale.
  Quotations
  In Beilu Village of Liucun Town in Yaodu District, Linfen, abnormal illnesses continued to emerge, as a result of clusters of highly-polluting enterprises mushrooming in the vicinity.
  2009, Zhang Yulin, “China's War on its Environment and Farmers' Rights: A Study of Shanxi Province”, in Confronting Discrimination and Inequality in China: Chinese and Canadian Perspectives‎, University of Ottawa Press, page 166
  The world's population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, a super-elite with assets of at least $30m, has now mushroomed beyond 250,000 people, all in need of somewhere to store their wealth.
  2019 June 1, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, archived from the original on 5 October 2020
  It has its own global news gathering and sharing platforms, like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. […] In recent years, all these platforms have mushroomed.
  2021 February 10, Thomas L. Friedman, “Cyberspace Plus Trump Almost Killed Our Democracy. Can Europe Save Us?”, in The New York Times‎
2. To gather mushrooms.
3. To form the shape of a mushroom.
  Quotations
  Excessive spot weld time may cause the electrode tips to mushroom, resulting in no focus of current and a weak weld.
  2001, James E. Duffy, I-Car Professional Automotive Collision Repair, page 173
  1. (ballistics, of a bullet) To form the shape of a mushroom when striking a soft target.

Definition of "mushroom"

mushroom

noun

Quotations

adjective

verb

Quotations

Quotations