Definition of "cryptococcus" []

• Any of various yeastlike fungi of the genus Cryptococcus, commonly occurring in the soil and including certain pathogenic species, such as the causative agent of cryptococcosis. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "For example, a fungus called cryptococcus gattii has been implicated in the deaths of dozens of harbor porpoises in the Northwest, he said."
• "The new strain of the airborne fungus - which is called cryptococcus gattii - appears to be unusually deadly, scientists say."
• "At least 60 people have been sickened in four states by the fungus, cryptococcus gattii, which grows on or around trees."