mushroom

noun

• 1a fungal growth that typically takes the form of a domed cap on a stalk, often with gills on the underside of the cap.
• a thing resembling a mushroom in shape:a mushroom of smoke and flames

Mushrooms are fruiting bodies that produce spores, growing from the hyphae of fungi concealed in soil or wood. They are proverbial for rapid growth. Toadstools are often called mushrooms, especially when they are considered to be edible. Numerous varieties are poisonous

• 2a pale pinkish-brown color: [as modifier]:a mushroom leather bag

verb

• 1increase, spread, or develop rapidly:environmental concern mushroomed in the 1960s

• 2(of the smoke, fire, or flames produced by an explosion) spread into the air in a shape resembling that of a mushroom:the grenade mushroomed into red fire as it hit the hillside
• (of a bullet) expand and flatten on reaching its target.

• 3 (usually as noun mushrooming) (of a person) gather mushrooms.