mushroom
noun · verb · adjective
Simple meaning
Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi usually produced above ground on soil or on their food sources.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
muhshroomSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmʌʃɹum
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil or on their food sources (such as decaying wood).
Fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi
figurative
Something that grows very quickly or seems to appear suddenly.
Champignon or Agaricus bisporus, the mushroom species most commonly used in cooking.
A large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb)
A large cloud of smoke, flame and debris that rises into the sky as a result of a large explosion, especially after a nuclear explosion, characterized by a long shaft rising from the ground into a much-larger or more-spread-out top, reminiscent of a mushroom in shape.
verb
intransitivefigurative
To grow quickly to a large size or rapidly increase in scope or scale.
Pick or gather mushrooms
“We went mushrooming in the Fall.”
adjective
attributive
Having characteristics like those of a mushroom, for example in shape or appearance, speed of growth, or texture.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil or on their food sources (such as decaying wood).
Used this way, mushroom is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An anchor used for semipermanent moorings.
A large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb).
Flattened disk-shaped stony coral (usually solitary and unattached).
Any of various fungi of the family Hypocreaceae.
Toxic condition caused by eating certain species of mushrooms (especially Amanita species).
Brown sauce and sauteed mushrooms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil
Antonyms
Sense: any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.