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fungus

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fungus


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fungus  \Fun"gus\,  n.;  pl  L.  {Fungi},  E.  {Funguses}.  [L.,  a 
  mushroom;  perh.  akin  to  a  doubtful  Gr  ?  sponge,  for  ?;if  so 
  cf  E.  sponge.] 
  1.  (Bot.)  Any  one  of  the  Fungi,  a  large  and  very  complex 
  group  of  thallophytes  of  low  organization,  --  the  molds, 
  mildews,  rusts,  smuts,  mushrooms,  toadstools,  puff  balls, 
  and  the  allies  of  each 
 
  Note:  The  fungi  are  all  destitute  of  chorophyll,  and 
  therefore,  to  be  supplied  with  elaborated  nourishment, 
  must  live  as  saprophytes  or  parasites.  They  range  in 
  size  from  single  microscopic  cells  to  systems  of 
  entangled  threads  many  feet  in  extent,  which  develop 
  reproductive  bodies  as  large  as  a  man's  head.  The 
  vegetative  system  consists  of  septate  or  rarely 
  unseptate  filaments  called  hyph[ae];  the  aggregation  of 
  hyph[ae]  into  structures  of  more  or  less  definite  form 
  is  known  as  the  mycelium.  See  Fungi,  in  the  Supplement. 
 
  2.  (Med.)  A  spongy,  morbid  growth  or  granulation  in  animal 
  bodies,  as  the  proud  flesh  of  wounds.  --Hoblyn. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  fungus 
  n  :  a  parasitic  plant  lacking  chlorophyll  and  leaves  and  true 
  stems  and  roots  and  reproducing  by  spores 




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