fungus
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a type of living thing like a mushroom or yeast that grows on plants, animals, or old food.
any member of the kingdom Fungi, characterized by chitin cell walls and a lack of chlorophyll; includes both unicellular and multicellular organisms.
Simple“The damp wood in the garden was covered in a strange orange fungus.”
In context“Biologists discovered a rare species of fungus that thrives in the extreme conditions of the rainforest floor, breaking down organic matter with remarkable speed.”
PitfallThere were many funguses on the tree. There were many fungi on the tree.While 'funguses' is technically correct, the Latin plural 'fungi' is much more common in both scientific and everyday English.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
a soft, spongy growth that sometimes forms on a wound or skin.
a spongy, abnormal excrescence, such as excessive granulation tissue formed during the healing of a wound.
Simple“The old medical book described a fungus growing over the patient's injury.”
In context“The surgeon noted the presence of a morbid fungus around the edges of the incision, a term used in nineteenth-century texts to describe proud flesh.”
Synonymsgrowthexcrescence
“Every animal, plant, and fungus around us today is eukaryotic.”
“Her team’s results , now presented in a peer-reviewed research paper , showed she was right in her hunch that the fungus could be used in the fight against the armyworms.”
Borrowed from Latin fungus (“mushroom”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.