puff·ball

(pŭf′bôl′)

1. Any of various fungi chiefly of the family Lycoperdaceae, having a ball-shaped fruiting body that when pressed or struck releases clouds of small spores.

2. Informal The rounded head of a dandelion that has gone to seed.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

puffball

(ˈpʌfˌbɔːl)

(Plants) any of various basidiomycetous saprotrophic fungi of the genera Calvatia and Lycoperdon, having a round fruiting body that discharges a cloud of brown spores when mature

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

puff•ball

(ˈpʌfˌbɔl)

n.

any of various globular stalkless fungi, of the genus Lycoperdon and allied genera, that emit a cloud of spores when pressed or broken.

[1640–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	puffball - any of various fungi of the family Lycoperdaceae whose round fruiting body discharges a cloud of spores when mature true puffball fungus - an organism of the kingdom Fungi lacking chlorophyll and feeding on organic matter; ranging from unicellular or multicellular organisms to spore-bearing syncytia family Lycoperdaceae, Lycoperdaceae - a fungus family belonging to the order Lycoperdales; includes puffballs Calvatia gigantea, giant puffball - huge edible puffball up to 2 feet diameter and 25 pounds in weight
	2.	puffball - any of various fungi of the genus Scleroderma having hard-skinned subterranean fruiting bodies resembling truffles earthball, hard-skinned puffball, false truffle genus Scleroderma, Scleroderma - genus of poisonous fungi having hard-skinned fruiting bodies: false truffles Scleroderma aurantium, Scleroderma citrinum - an earthball fungus that is a dingy brownish yellow and a dark purplish interior; the peridium is covered with a pattern of small warts Scleroderma flavidium, star earthball - an earthball with a smooth upper surface that is at first buried in sand; the top of the fruiting body opens up to form segments like the ray of an umbel Scleroderma bovista, smooth earthball - an earthball with a peridium that is firm dry and smooth when young but developing cracks when mature; pale orange-yellow when young and reddish brown at maturity fungus - an organism of the kingdom Fungi lacking chlorophyll and feeding on organic matter; ranging from unicellular or multicellular organisms to spore-bearing syncytia

Translations

vescia

puffball

[ˈpʌfbɔːl] N → bejín m, pedo m de lobo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

puffball

puff-ball [ˈpʌfbɔːl] n (= fungus) → vesse-de-loup f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

puffball

[ˈpʌfˌbɔːl] n (mushroom) → vescia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

To me, away there in my bean-field at the other end of the town, the big guns sounded as if a puffball had burst; and when there was a military turnout of which I was ignorant, I have sometimes had a vague sense all the day of some sort of itching and disease in the horizon, as if some eruption would break out there soon, either scarlatina or canker-rash, until at length some more favorable puff of wind, making haste over the fields and up the Wayland road, brought me information of the "trainers." It seemed by the distant hum as if somebody's bees had swarmed, and that the neighbors, according to Virgil's advice, by a faint tintinnabulum upon the most sonorous of their domestic utensils, were endeavoring to call them down into the hive again.

View in context

INGREDIENTS PS 4 slices of puffball, cut to 2cm thick slices PS 2 large shallots, peeled, halved and finely chopped PS 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed PS salt and freshly ground black pepper PS 400-500g seasonal wild mushrooms, cleaned and cut into even sized pieces PS 3-4 tbls rapeseed oil PS 120g butter PS 2tbls chopped parsley METHOD PS Heat a couple of tablespoons of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and cook the puffball slices for 3-4 minutes on each side until nicely coloured, seasoning them during cooking and adding a little more oil if the pan dries up.

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THE beauty of Kirby Star Allies how it embraces the puffball hero's old-school bizarro world.

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"The puffball and amethyst deceiver are both edible.

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The council say although people might see the the fly agaric on the walk they're poisonous, and safe species to look out for include puffball, coprinus comatus or jelly ear mushrooms.

Not mush room for error on walk

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