See Also: Puffball(medicine)
puffball(dictionary)
puffball(encyclopedia)
puffball(dictionary)

puffball (iou)



puffball noun. M17.
[from PUFF noun or verb + BALL noun1.]
Any of the gasteromycetous fungi constituting the genera Lycoperdon, Calvatia, Bovista, etc., which have a ball-shaped fruiting body and at maturity burst open to discharge a cloud of powdery spores; esp. (in full giant puffball) Calvatia gigantea. M17.
A powder-puff; an object resembling this. E19.
A short full skirt gathered in around the hemline to produce a soft puffy shape. M20.
attrib.: Sunday Mail (Brisbane) Skintight leathers and puff-ball minis.