subdict-logo

mushroom

Definition

  • noun: a fungus that is shaped like an umbrella
  • noun: an enlarged complex aboveground fleshy fruiting body of a fungus (as a basidiomycete) that consists typically of a stem bearing a pileus
  • verb: to increase or develop very quickly
  • verb: to well up and spread out laterally from a central source
  • often used before another noun
  • synonyms: upstart, short-lived, ephemerial

Examples

  • The population has 'mushroomed' [='shot up'] over the past 10 years. = The town has 'mushroomed' in population over the past 10 years.

  • Interest in local history is suddenly 'mushrooming'.

  • Her hobby 'mushroomed' into a thriving business.

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) Somebody got out? That's the best thing I've heard all day. Doesn't this just completely blow your mind? My mind is blown, yes. Enormous fossilized mushrooms. Sort of like humongous fungus. - Everything in the book is real? - Probably. - And the really dangerous parts? (..)
    2008 Journey to the Center of the Earth