blight

[blahyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR blight ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Plant Pathology.

the rapid and extensive discoloration, wilting, and death of plant tissues.
a disease so characterized.

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

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

verb (used with object)

to cause to wither or decay; blast: Frost blighted the crops.

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

verb (used without object)

to suffer blight.

Origin of blight

First recorded in 1605–15; of uncertain origin

Related formsblight·ing·ly, adverbun·blight·ed, adjectiveun·blight·ed·ly, adverbun·blight·ed·ness, noun

Synonyms for blight

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR blight ON THESAURUS.COM

2. curse, plague, scourge, bane.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for blight

mildew, decay, scourge, eyesore, canker, pest, affliction, fungus, infestation, mar, taint, curse, pestilence, dump, withering, evil, bane, sight, contamination, woe

Examples from the Web for blight

Contemporary Examples of blight

Increasingly, cities long left to rot are rising from the ashes of blight as they try to become shining examples of new urbanism.
A Tech Millionaire Bets on the Urban Revival of Downtown Las Vegas
Sarah Kunst
January 16, 2014
Others announced layoffs and cutbacks and every manner of cancer and blight.
Books Aren't Dying
Patrick DeWitt
February 27, 2009

Historical Examples of blight

Flowers in Summer warmth delight:— What of Winter and its blight?
What Sami Sings with the Birds
Johanna Spyri
Was poverty going to blight their spring with its chill breath?
Doctor Pascal
Emile Zola
They moved on, little dreaming of the ruin and blight they had left behind them.
Pretty Madcap Dorothy
Laura Jean Libbey
Yields largely and is less liable to blight than any other variety.
Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 4, January 26, 1884
Various
There is a blight on the land; the people are starving—dying.
The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II)
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for blight

blight

noun

any plant disease characterized by withering and shrivelling without rottingSee also potato blight

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

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

an ugly urban district

the state or condition of being blighted or spoilt

verb

to cause or suffer a blight

(tr) to frustrate or disappoint

(tr) to spoil; destroy

Word Origin for blight

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

Word Origin and History for blight

1610s, origin obscure; according to OED it emerged into literary speech from the talk of gardeners and farmers, perhaps ultimately from Old English blæce, blæcðu, a scrofulous skin condition and/or from Old Norse blikna "become pale." Used in a general way of agricultural diseases, sometimes with suggestion of "invisible baleful influence;" hence figurative sense of "anything which withers hopes or prospects or checks prosperity" (1828). Cf. slang blighter. Urban blight attested by 1935.

"afflict with blight," 1660s (implied in blighted), from blight (n.). Figurative use by 1712. Related: Blighted; blighting.

blight in Science

blight

[blīt]

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

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