mushroom

Everyday

1. A mushroom is a fungus with a stalk and a round cap; some kinds are eaten as food. tree →
2. To mushroom means to grow or spread very fast: New houses mushroomed in the town. tree →
3. A mushroom can also be a round, mushroom-shaped stopper, used to plug a hole. tree →

In the lessons

In science, mushrooms are not plants; they are fungi, which do not make their own food from sunlight but feed on rotting things, and they spread by spores. In safety lessons: never eat wild mushrooms, because some are very poisonous and look like safe ones; only eat mushrooms from a shop. Phrases: mushroom soup, button mushroom, wild mushrooms, mushroom cloud.

Examples

• We had mushroom soup for lunch. tree →
• Never pick and eat wild mushrooms. tree →
• Mushrooms grow in damp, dark places. tree →
• A mushroom is a kind of fungus. tree →
• Some mushrooms are poisonous. tree →
• There were mushrooms growing on the old log. tree →
• Mushrooms spread by tiny spores. tree →
• The town mushroomed into a city. tree →
• It was the custom of the boys to stop it with a mushroom when enemies were in the neighbourhood. tree →

Note

Countable. One word. Mushrooms are fungi, not vegetables or plants, even though they are sold with vegetables. A toadstool usually means a mushroom that is poisonous or not eaten.