sponge morel
- noun
- /spʌndʒ məˈrɛl/
:
morilla
- The chef included sautéed sponge morels as a delicacy in the spring tasting menu.
Examples
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She was delighted to find a sponge morel growing beneath the old pine tree.
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I found a fresh sponge morel in the forest.
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Many foragers consider the sponge morel one of the best wild mushrooms to eat.
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The chef prepared a delicious dish with sponge morels.
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Many foragers consider the sponge morel one of the best wild mushrooms for cooking.
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The chef included sautéed sponge morels in his special spring dish.
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She was delighted to discover a sponge morel hidden among the fallen leaves.
Synonyms
5
8.6
A brown mushroom with a spongy cap full of holes that you can eat
A mushroom you can eat with a soft, sponge-like head covered in pits and ridges
An edible mushroom with a hollow cap covered in pits and ridges that chefs use in cooking
A mushroom you can eat with a cap full of holes and a rich taste
Surface Forms
Morphology
sponge + morel
This is a straightforward noun–noun compound where 'sponge' describes the texture/appearance of the 'morel' mushroom; the overall meaning — a morel that is sponge-like/pitted and edible — is directly inferable from the parts. Such descriptive compounds are compositionally regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand it.
Etymology
Sponge morel is named for how the mushroom looks: its rounded cap is full of pits and ridges like a soft kitchen sponge, and it is a kind of morel mushroom. That's why the name tells you it is an 'edible' mushroom with a sponge-like, pitted 'cap'.