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Aug 9, 2018
This week’s theme
Words related to veggies

This week’s words
olive branch
cabbage
pea-brained
mushroom
couch potato

mushroom
Mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Aug 9, 1945
Photo: US National Archives and Records Administration

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

mushroom

PRONUNCIATION:
(MUHSH-room)

MEANING:
verb intr.:1. To grow rapidly.
 2. To develop into the shape of a mushroom.
 3. To collect wild mushrooms.
adjective:1. Of or relating to mushrooms.
 2. Developing or growing quickly.

ETYMOLOGY:
From allusion to the rapid growth of mushrooms, some literally appearing overnight. From Old French mousseron, from Latin mussirion. Earliest documented use: 1440.

USAGE:
“More workers are out of jobs and the social safety net has eroded. Anxiety has mushroomed.”
Douglas Todd; Happiness Research Is Beautifully Subversive; The Vancouver Sun (Canada); Jun 11, 2018.

See more usage examples of mushroom in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
What magical trick makes us intelligent? The trick is that there is no trick. The power of intelligence stems from our vast diversity, not from any single, perfect principle. -Marvin Minsky, scientist and author (9 Aug 1927-2016)

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