Blur the shapes' edges together, then push the alpha channel's contrast to an extreme with feColorMatrix, snapping the blurred grey boundary back into a hard alpha edge. Wherever two shapes' blurred halos overlapped, that region now reads as one solid blob.
Plain CSS filter can't produce this combination on its own — you apply an SVG filter containing feGaussianBlur + feColorMatrix + feComposite to the element via filter: url(#goo).
When to use
Use when a floating action button opens and submenu items ooze out, or for loading indicators. Avoid text — thin strokes get mangled.