"mushroom" - Word of the Day from the OED

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mushroom, v.

DRAFT REVISION Mar. 2010

Brit. /mrum/, /mrm/, U.S. /mrum/, /mrm/  [< MUSHROOM n.
  N.E.D. (1908) gives only the pronunciation (m·rum) /mrum/.] 

    1. trans. To elevate (a person) in social position with great suddenness. Obs. nonce-use.

1747 S. RICHARDSON Clarissa I. xl. 268 None but the prosperous upstart, mushroom'd into rank (another of his peculiars) was arrogantly proud of it.

    2. intr. To gather mushrooms. Usu. in pres. pple.

1855 Westm. Rev. 8 288 Every one who was so happy as to go mushrooming in his early days, remembers his delight when..he pounces on an unmistakeable mushroom. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 2 Jan. 7/2 While walking across a field mushrooming. 1969 Soviet Weekly 29 Nov. 2 People are still mushrooming in the woods round Moscow, and some cherry trees have blossomed a second time. 1987 Arena 5 72 At the age of eight he would go mushrooming with his father.

    3. a. intr. Of a bullet: to expand and flatten on impact so as to resemble a mushroom. Also with out.

1893 F. C. SELOUS Trav. S.-E. Afr. 431 Such a bullet will mushroom on striking an animal. 1900 Brit. Med. Jrnl. No. 2054. 1158 The result is that the lead mushrooms out. 1905 A. CONAN DOYLE Return Sherlock Holmes i. 5 The revolver bullet, which had mushroomed out, as soft nosed bullets will, and so inflicted a wound which must have caused instantaneous death. 1987 Handgunner July 14/2 The 125-gr. Federal .357 slug mushroomed perfectly and did not exit the leg.

    b. trans. To prepare (a bullet) in order that it should expand and flatten on impact. Cf dum-dum vb. at DUM-DUM n. Derivatives. Obs. rare.

1896 Westm. Gaz. 16 Dec. 6/3 The bullet was either mushroomed or the nickel shell and lead had parted company.

    4. a. intr. To expand quickly into the shape of a mushroom. Of a tool, etc.: to deform into a mushroom shape. Also with out, up.

1903 Sun (N.Y.) 2 Nov. 3 The flames had gone up the stairs to the very top of the house, and had then ‘mushroomed’ out, as the firemen say. 1911 Ithaca Jrnl. 10 Aug., The flames mushroomed from the shaft on all floors above. 1937 D. L. SAYERS Busman's Honeymoon v. 97 The loosened soot of centuries came plunging in a mad cascade down the chimney; it met the floor with a soft and deadly violence and mushroomed up in a Stygian cloud. 1947 J. C. RICH Materials & Methods of Sculpture ix. 249 If the end [of the chisel] receiving the impact of the carving hammer is too soft, it will quickly ‘mushroom’. 1992 Mech. Products & Tools July-Oct. 1437/2 The ‘domed’ head has been heat treated to prevent chipping, nor will it mushroom.

    b. trans. To cause (an object) to deform into a shape resembling that of a mushroom.

1917 Man 17 106 At the point of junction a wooden rivet, the ends of which are burred or ‘mushroomed’ by hammering, unites the rods firmly together. 1932 Man 32 116 The upper ring of each [axe] is kept from slipping off by ‘mushrooming’ the head of the haft. 1948 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 194 301 The specimens [of steel] were usually ‘mushroomed’ by the impact.

    5. intr. To increase, develop, or spread rapidly.

1951 J. L. LAIT & L. MORTIMER Washington Confidential I. i. 1/2 It is an old-fashioned, tree-shaded Southern town.taken over by a gigantic governmental apparatus which..has mushroomed into the world's greatest bureaucracy. 1959 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 11/8 A private Bill, promoted by the L.C.C.; it is intended to secure greater control of clubs which have ‘mushroomed’ into existence in recent years. 1972 Language 48 429 The number of publishing companies, both in Europe and North America, which have prepared new editions of primary sources [in linguistics] has mushroomed. 1996 Financial Post (Canada) 2 Feb. 18/3 As Altamira Equity mushrooms past $2 billion in assetsnow the fourth-largest Canadian equity fundthe margin of outperformance has been shrinking.

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