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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

NOSTOC

Nos "toc, n. Etym: [F.] (Bot. )

Defn: A genus of algæ. The plants are composed of moniliform cells imbedded in a gelatinous substance.

Note: Nostoc commune is found on the ground, and is ordinarily not seen; but after a rain it swells up into a conspicuous jellylike mass, whish was formerly supposed to have fallen from the sky, whence the popular names, fallen star and star jelly. Also called witches' butter.

New American Oxford Dictionary

nostoc

nos toc |ˈnästäk ˈnɑstɑk | ▶noun Biology a microorganism composed of beaded filaments that aggregate to form a gelatinous mass, growing in water and damp places and able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. [Genus Nostoc, division Cyanobacteria. ] ORIGIN name invented by Paracelsus.

Oxford Dictionary

nostoc

nostoc |ˈnɒstɒk | ▶noun Biology a microorganism composed of beaded filaments which aggregate to form a gelatinous mass, growing in water and damp places and able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. ●Genus Nostoc, division Cyanobacteria. ORIGIN early 17th cent.: name invented by Paracelsus.