Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FUN'GUS, n. [L.]

1. A mushroom, vulgarly called a toad-stool. The Fungi constitute an order of plants of a peculiar organization and manner of growth. The word is also applied to excrescences on plants. Encyc.
2. A spongy excrescence in animal bodies, as proud flesh formed in wounds. Coxe. The term is particularly applied to any morbid excrescence, whether in wounds or arising spontaneously. Cyc. Cooper.