blight

¹blight

noun \ˈblīt\

Definition of BLIGHT

1

a : a disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (as leaves and tubers)

b : an organism (as an insect or a fungus) that causes blight

2

: something that frustrates plans or hopes

3

: something that impairs or destroys

4

: a deteriorated condition <urban blight>

Examples of BLIGHT

1. the city's spreading urban blight
2. <the expanding urban sprawl is a blight on the countryside>

Origin of BLIGHT

origin unknown

First Known Use: 1578

Related to BLIGHT

Synonyms

blemish, blotch, defect, deformity, disfigurement, excrescence, excrescency, fault, flaw, imperfection, mar, mark, pockmark, scar

Related Words

abnormality, distortion, irregularity, malformation, misshape; bug, glitch, kink; blot, blur, spot, stain, taint; damage, defacement, impairment, injury; failing, weakness

Near Antonyms

adornment, decoration, embellishment, enhancement, ornament

Rhymes with BLIGHT

bight, bite, bright, byte, cite, dight, dite, fight, flight, fright, height, hight, kite, knight, krait, kyte, light, lite, might, mite, night, plight, quite, right, rite, sight, site, sleight, slight, smite, spite, sprite, tight, trite, white, wight, wite, wright, write

²blight

verb

Definition of BLIGHT

transitive verb

1

: to affect (as a plant) with blight

2

: to impair the quality or effect of <the condition that has blighted his son's life — Patricia Guthrie>

intransitive verb

: to suffer from or become affected with blight

Examples of BLIGHT

1. Builders blighted the land with malls and parking lots.

First Known Use of BLIGHT

1664

blight

noun \ˈblīt\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of BLIGHT

Australian : an inflammation of the eye in which the eyelids discharge a thick mucous substance that often seals them up for days and minute granular pustules develop inside the lid—called also sandy blight

blight

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of various plant diseases whose symptoms include sudden and severe yellowing, browning, spotting, withering, or dying of leaves, flowers, fruit, stems, or the entire plant. Usually the shoots and other young, rapidly growing tissues of a plant are attacked. Most blights are caused by bacteria or fungi (see fungus); some result from drought. Fungal and bacterial blights are most likely under cool, moist conditions. Most economically important plants are susceptible to one or more blights. Measures taken to fight blight include destroying the infected plant parts; using disease-free seed or stock and resistant varieties; rotating crops (see crop rotation); pruning and spacing plants for better air circulation; controlling pests that carry the fungus from plant to plant; avoiding overhead watering and working among wet plants; and, where needed, applying fungicides or antibiotics. Maintaining sanitary conditions is the most important measure for stopping the spread of the infestation. See also chestnut blight.