Word.ws English Dictionary

mushroom cloud

mushroom cloud noun: a large cloud of smoke, flame and debris that rises into the sky as a result of a large explosion, especially after a nuclear explosion, characterized by a long shaft rising from the ground into a much-larger or more-spread-out top, reminiscent of a mushroom in shape.

mushroom cloud: a large cloud of smoke, flame and debris that rises into the sky as a result of a large explosion,...
Image: 509th Operations Group, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

mushroom cloud (plural mushroom clouds)

  1. A large cloud of smoke, flame and debris that rises into the sky as a result of a large explosion, especially after a nuclear explosion, characterized by a long shaft rising from the ground into a much-larger or more-spread-out top, reminiscent of a mushroom in shape.
    • This is Radio Clash underneath a mushroom cloud1981, “This Is Radio Clash”, performed by The Clash
    • It's Christmas at ground zero / There's panic in the crowd / We can dodge debris / While we trim the tree / Underneath a mushroom cloud1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic, “Christmas at Ground Zero”, in Polka Party!

Forms of mushroom cloud

pluralmushroom clouds

Questions about mushroom cloud

What does mushroom cloud mean?
Mushroom cloud means a large cloud of smoke, flame and debris that rises into the sky as a result of a large explosion, especially after a nuclear explosion, characterized by a long shaft rising from the ground into a much-larger or more-spread-out top, reminiscent of a mushroom in shape.
What part of speech is mushroom cloud?
Mushroom cloud is a noun.
What is the plural of mushroom cloud?
The plural of mushroom cloud is mushroom clouds.

Words near mushroom cloud in the dictionary

  1. mushroom anchors
  2. mushroom bodies
  3. mushroom body
  4. mushroom brush
  5. mushroom brushes
  6. mushroom cloud
  7. mushroom clouds
  8. mushroom coral
  9. mushroom cut
  10. mushroom cuts
  11. mushroom haircut

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mushroom cloud (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “mushroom cloud.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mushroom_cloud. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.