puffball

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a round fungus that releases a cloud of powdery spores when its mature fruiting body is pressed or broken

   A dry puffball burst beneath her shoe and released a brown cloud of spores.

A compound of puff and ball, named for the rounded fruiting body and the puff of spores it releases when mature. The common name covers several globose fungi, especially members of the family Lycoperdaceae.

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