blight

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A diseased condition suffered by a plant

   A diseased condition suffered by a plant; specifically, a complete and rapid chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as floral organs, leaves, branches, or twigs, especially one caused by a fungus; a mildew, a rust, a smut.

   • Proceed, inhuman Parent in thy Scorn; / Root up my Trees, vvith Blites deſtroy my Corn; / My Vineyards Ruin, and my Sheepfolds burn.
   • As ſudden blights corrupt the ripen'd grain, / And of its verdure ſpoil the mournful plain; / So hapleſs love on blooming features preys, / So hapleſs love deſtroys our peaceful days.
2. 2

   The cause of such a condition, often unseen but believed to be airborne

   The cause of such a condition, often unseen but believed to be airborne; specifically, a bacterium, a virus, or (especially) a fungus; also, an aphid which attacks fruit trees.

3. 3

   A state of cloudy, humid weather.

   • And the youth stood by thy side and whispered to thee; and from his lips there came a reeking smoke, and in that smoke as in a blight the wings withered up.
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   1. 4

      A diseased condition of the face or skin

      A diseased condition of the face or skin; specifically, bleeding under the conjunctiva of the eye, a form of skin rash, or a palsy of the face due to cold.

   2. 5

      Something that impedes development or growth, or spoils any other aspect of life.

      • But a blight had come over my existence, and I only visited these people for the sake of the information they might give me on the subject in which my interest was so terribly profound.
      • He saw her image in the blight and blackness all around him, not irradiating but deepening the gloom.
      • She moved about the country like a ghost, gathering herbs in dark loanings, lingering in kirkyairds, and casting a blight on innocent bairns.
   3. 6

      A rundown and unsightly condition of an urban area

      A rundown and unsightly condition of an urban area; also, such an area.

   4. 7

      To affect the fertility or growth of (a plant) with a blight (noun sense 1.1), especially…

      To affect the fertility or growth of (a plant) with a blight (noun sense 1.1), especially one caused by a fungus; to blast, to mildew, to smut.

      • In your eye there is death, / There is frost on your breath / Which would blight the plants.
      • Oh, Love! like the blast of the desert thou blightest / The fairest of flowers with thy venomous breath.
   5. 8

      To affect (a body part) with a disease.

      • [B]lighted be the tongue / That names thy name without the honour due!
   6. 9

      To impede the development or growth of (an aspect of life)

      To impede the development or growth of (an aspect of life); to damage, to ruin, to spoil.

      • Those obscene tattoos are going to blight your job prospects.
      • [T]o be too far in loue vvith vvorldly felicity, that ſo blighteth goodneſſe and pietie, vvhat is it but vvith the Thurij to make an idoll of the vvinde, and to be in loue vvith blaſting.
      • The lady Blast, you must understand, has such a particular malignity in her whisper, that it blights like an easterly wind, and withers every reputation that it breathes upon.
   7. 10

      Of a plant

      Of a plant: to suffer blight (noun sense 1.1).

      • This vine never blights.

The neighborhood

• neighboralder blight
• neighborAmerican blight
• neighboraphis-blight
• neighborapple blight
• neighborbean blight
• neighborbeet blight
• neighborblister blight
• neighborbur oak blight
• neighborcane blight
• neighborcelery blight
• neighborchestnut blight
• neighborcoffee blight