Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A cloud of smoke and debris shaped like a mushroom, especially one created by the detonation of a nuclear bomb.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A cloud, specifically an ascending cloud, which spreads outward and downward at the top in a form resembling that of a mushroom.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A large, mushroom-shaped cloud of
smoke ,flame anddebris thatrises into thesky as a result of a largeexplosion , especially after anuclear explosion.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb)
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word mushroom cloud.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
treeseed commented on the word mushroom cloud
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: circa 1909
: a mushroom-shaped cloud; specifically : one caused by the explosion of a nuclear weapon
February 6, 2008
reesetee commented on the word mushroom cloud
Funny, though. I always thought they looked more like broccoli.
February 6, 2008
kewpid commented on the word mushroom cloud
Mushrooms and other fungi conjure a more sinister, insidious atmosphere. Broccoli is just well... broccoli. It's rather nice to eat.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mushroom cloud
Kewpid agrees with Weart, quoted in Wikipedia article:
Later in 1946, the Operation Crossroads nuclear bomb tests were described as having a "cauliflower" cloud, but a reporter present also spoke of "the mushroom, now the common symbol of the atomic age." Mushrooms have traditionally been associated both with life and death, food and poison, making them a more powerful symbolic connection than, say, the "cauliflower" cloud.
February 7, 2008
kewpid commented on the word mushroom cloud
The "fruit" the serpent offered Eve from the Tree of Knowledge has occasionally been represented as a mushroom!
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mushroom cloud
That makes me think of psilocybin when you talk about mushrooms in lieu of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge.
February 7, 2008
reesetee commented on the word mushroom cloud
Eh. They still look like broccoli to me. ;->
February 7, 2008
yarb commented on the word mushroom cloud
Plus, they're the right colour to be mushrooms. If they were green, I'd go with broccoli cloud.
February 7, 2008
reesetee commented on the word mushroom cloud
Sure, sure, the color's all wrong. Still....
February 7, 2008