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toadstool

/ˌtoʊdˈstul/
/ˈtʌʊdstul/
IPA guide

Other forms: toadstools

A toadstool might sound like something you'd find a fairy living under, but it's really just a poisonous mushroom.

If you're walking in the woods and see especially colorful, mushrooms, they're probably toadstools. In other words, it's not a good idea to eat them. You can use the terms mushroom and toadstool interchangeably — although most people save toadstool for fairy tales and poisonous fungi; it's not a scientific term. The root is probably just the creative combination of the Middle English tadde, "toad," and stole, "stool."

Definitions of toadstool
  1. noun
    common name for an inedible or poisonous agaric (contrasting with the edible mushroom)
    see moresee less
    antonyms:
    mushroom
    common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the inedible toadstool)
    type of:
    agaric
    a saprophytic fungus of the order Agaricales having an umbrellalike cap with gills on the underside
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