'Mushroom' definitions:

Definition of 'mushroom'

From: WordNet
noun
Common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the inedible toadstool) [ant: toadstool]
noun
Mushrooms and related fleshy fungi (including toadstools, puffballs, morels, coral fungi, etc.)
noun
Any of various fleshy fungi of the subdivision Basidiomycota consisting of a cap at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium
noun
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, mushroom cloud, mushroom- shaped cloud]
noun
Fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi
verb
Pick or gather mushrooms; "We went mushrooming in the Fall"
verb
Grow and spread fast; "The problem mushroomed"

Definition of 'Mushroom'

From: GCIDE
  • Mushroom \Mush"room\, a.
  • 1. Of or pertaining to mushrooms; as, mushroom catchup. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Resembling mushrooms in rapidity of growth and shortness of duration; short-lived; ephemerial; as, mushroom cities. [1913 Webster]
  • Mushroom anchor, an anchor shaped like a mushroom, capable of grasping the ground in whatever way it falls.
  • Mushroom coral (Zool.), 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.
  • mushroom cloud, a cloud of smoke rising and then spreading laterally to take on the shape of a mushroom -- caused by large fires or explosions, esp. nuclear explosions. [1913 Webster +PJC]

Definition of 'Mushroom'

From: GCIDE
  • 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 developing a visible fruiting body with a stem and cap, usu. of the basidiomycetes; especially one of the genus Agaricus; a toadstool. Several species are edible; but many are very poisonous. The term mushroom is used most often for edible varieties, the poisonous ones being termed toadstools or other names. But this distinction is often ignored. [1913 Webster +PJC]
  • 2. One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'mushroom'

From: GCIDE
  • mushroom \mush"room\, v. i.
  • 1. to grow or expand rapidly. [PJC]
  • 2. to grow so much and so rapidly as to change qualitatively; used with into; as, a minor border skirmish mushroomed into a full-blown war. [PJC]