Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various edible mushrooms of the genus Morchella, characterized by a cap with irregular pits and ridges.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An edible mushroom; specifically, Morchella esculenta, which grows abundantly in Europe, particularly in England, as well as in many parts of the United States.
  • Dark-colored; blackish.
  • noun A dark-colored horse; hence, any horse.
  • noun A kind of cherry. See morello.
  • noun Garden nightshade, Solanum nigrum. See nightshade. Also morelle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) An edible fungus (Morchella esculenta), the upper part of which is covered with a reticulated and pitted hymenium. It is used as food, and for flavoring sauces.
  • noun (Bot.) Nightshade; -- so called from its blackish purple berries.
  • noun A kind of cherry. See Morello.
  • noun the deadly nightshade.
  • noun the black nightshade. See Nightshade.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of several edible mushrooms (fungi) in the genus Morchella, especially the common morel or yellow morel, Morchella esculenta, the upper part of which is covered with a reticulated and pitted hymenium.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various edible mushrooms of the genus Morchella having a brownish spongelike cap

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French morille, from Old French, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *maurīcula, feminine diminutive of Latin Maurus, Mauritanian, Moor; see Moor.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French morille (compare Picard merouille, meroule "morel, mushroom"), from Frankish *morhila "mushroom", diminutive of *morha "root" from Proto-Germanic *murhō(n), *murhijō(n) (“carrot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mork- (“tuber, edible herb”). Akin to Old High German morhilo, morhela "mushroom" (German Morchel "mushroom"), diminutive of Old High German morha, moraha "tree-root, plant root" (German Möhre "carrot"). More at more.

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Examples

  • The actions of the wilful man-child Gren sees the group splintered, and Gren's encounter with an intelligent but parasitic entity known as the morel leads him and his mate on a long, curious journey through the landscape of the dying world.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Adam Whitehead 2009

  • The actions of the wilful man-child Gren sees the group splintered, and Gren's encounter with an intelligent but parasitic entity known as the morel leads him and his mate on a long, curious journey through the landscape of the dying world.

    Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss Adam Whitehead 2009

  • Morchella esculenta, for example, is known as a morel in English, but has various names in different parts of Mexico, including elotitos (little corn cobs) menudo (tripe) and viejitos (little old men.)

    Stalking The Wild Mushroom: An Ancient Mexican Culinary Tradition 2006

  • Morchella esculenta, for example, is known as a morel in English, but has various names in different parts of Mexico, including elotitos (little corn cobs) menudo (tripe) and viejitos (little old men.)

    Stalking The Wild Mushroom: An Ancient Mexican Culinary Tradition 2006

  • I have no knowledge of mushrooms, unfortunately, the morel is the only one that I would be sure enough of to pick wild, as I am pretty clueless about the others and need to learn from an expert before I go poison myself...

    Morels and Nostalgia Brilynn 2008

  • It's like if a field mushroom is a single musical instrument, the morel is the whole symphony orchestra.

    At My Table 2006

  • It's like if a field mushroom is a single musical instrument, the morel is the whole symphony orchestra.

    Archive 2006-07-01 2006

  • "The morel is a very wary little mushroom, " explained Amanda.

    Another Roadside Attraction Robbins, Tom 1971

  • Family matters: Common morels belong to the fungus family Morchellaceae, a group of species commonly called the morel family.

    unknown title 2009

  • steve morel aka ekion 3 months ago dunno how u did it ! that's crazy ! that's like a movie from superman !

    Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 on Vimeo 2010

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