noun

mushroom

MUHSH-room

noun

The fleshy, umbrella-shaped fruiting body of certain fungi, often eaten as food.

"She fried the mushrooms in butter and garlic before adding them to the pasta."

verb

To grow or increase very quickly in size, number, or scale.

"Complaints about the new policy mushroomed within hours of the announcement."

"The small startup mushroomed into a company with offices on three continents."

adj

Shaped like a mushroom, with a wide cap on a narrower stem.

"The explosion sent up a dark mushroom cloud over the horizon."

How to Use Mushroom

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe fungus you eat, the shape it makes, or (as a verb) growing rapidly out of nowhere.

Common pairings

mushroom cloud mushroom into something wild mushrooms

mushroomed past tense, mushrooms singular

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She fried the _____ in butter and garlic before adding them to the pasta.

From Middle English muscheron, borrowed via Old French from a word related to moss — because these fungi were first noticed growing among moss.

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