Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A poisonous, usually white mushroom (Amanita phalloides) having a prominent cup-shaped base.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The deadly poisonous mushroom Amanita phalloides.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun extremely poisonous usually white fungus with a prominent cup-shaped base; differs from edible Agaricus only in its white gills

Etymologies

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  • A deadly mushroom, Amanita phalloides, which resembles many edible mushrooms.

    November 9, 2007

  • There is also the suspect etymology of the word kibosh, as coming from the Irish phrase caip bháis or death cap, sometimes said to be the black cap a judge would don when pronouncing a death sentence, but in other sources identified as a gruesome method of execution "employed by Brit. forces against 1798 insurgents".

    November 9, 2007