blight

[ blahyt ]
See synonyms for blight on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Plant Pathology.

    • the rapid and extensive discoloration, wilting, and death of plant tissues.

    • a disease so characterized.

  2. any cause of impairment, destruction, ruin, or frustration: Extravagance was the blight of the family.

  1. the state or result of being blighted or deteriorated; dilapidation; decay: urban blight.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cause to wither or decay; blast: Frost blighted the crops.

  2. to destroy; ruin; frustrate: Illness blighted his hopes.

verb (used without object)
  1. to suffer blight.

Origin of blight

1
First recorded in 1605–15; of uncertain origin

Other words for blight

Other words from blight

  • blight·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blight in a sentence

  • Very little of the scandal that hung over the Asturian throne like a blighting cloud was hidden from him.

    The Weight of the Crown | Fred M. White
  • But my limited experience of the Mahajan of Champaran has made me revise the accepted opinion about his 'blighting influence.'

  • But he now spoke to one bereft of sense—of any feeling save that of choking, withering, blighting agony.

    Confessions of a Thug | Philip Meadows Taylor
  • Helping all urchin blasts, remedying or preventing the blighting influence of evil spirits.

    Milton's Comus | John Milton
  • It sometimes happens that entire branches or arms have to be cut away on account of blighting.

    Dwarf Fruit Trees | F. A. Waugh

British Dictionary definitions for blight

blight

/ (blaɪt) /


noun
  1. any plant disease characterized by withering and shrivelling without rotting: See also potato blight

  2. any factor, such as bacterial attack or air pollution, that causes the symptoms of blight in plants

  1. a person or thing that mars or prevents growth, improvement, or prosperity

  2. an ugly urban district

  3. the state or condition of being blighted or spoilt

verb
  1. to cause or suffer a blight

  2. (tr) to frustrate or disappoint

  1. (tr) to spoil; destroy

Origin of blight

1
C17: perhaps related to Old English blǣce rash; compare bleach

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for blight

blight

[ blīt ]


  1. Any of numerous plant diseases that cause leaves, stems, fruits, and tissues to wither and die. Rust, mildew, and smut are blights.

  2. The bacterium, fungus, or virus that causes such a disease.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.