fire blight

Definition of fire blight

: a destructive infectious disease especially of apples, pears, and related fruits caused by a bacterium (Erwinia amylovora)

Examples of fire blight in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web George Sundin, a fruit-tree pathologist at Michigan State University, said in 2019, about fire blight, the most recent major threat to apples. — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, "How Apples Go Bad," 8 June 2020 The limiting factor on pears is the disease fire blight. — Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, "Gardening: Growing figs, apples, pears and plums in your San Antonio backyard; what you need to know," 16 Jan. 2020 Rapid regrowth fosters fire blight bacterial infection. — Neil Sperry, ExpressNews.com, "Hollow, goop-filled tree needs an arborist’s advice," 30 Aug. 2019 The 20 or so specimens featured in the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s upcoming Fruits in Decay exhibition suffer from an array of ailments: among others, peach leaf curl, pear scab, gray mold, brown rot, blue mold and fire blight. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "Glass Models of Decaying Fruit Set to Go on View After Two Decades in Storage," 29 Aug. 2019 We're being warned by the Pacific Northwest Pest Alert Network to watch out for fire blight this spring. — Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, "Cool, rainy spring prompts alert for fire blight on Valley trees, plants | Idaho Statesman," 26 Apr. 2018 Originally, they were introduced to save a valuable crop of pear trees that suffered from a destructive disease known as fire blight. — Carrie Blackmore Smith, Cincinnati.com, "Ornamental pear trees are beautiful but they've got a dark side. Is an effort to contain them working?," 25 Apr. 2018 Pruning encourages vigorous regrowth, and that new growth would be highly susceptible to fire blight. — Neil Sperry, star-telegram, "What gardeners should take away from this winter’s extended cold snap," 26 Jan. 2018 But the orchards were threatened by a new disease called fire blight. — Adrian Higgins, The Seattle Times, "Scientists thought they had created the perfect tree. But it became a nightmare.," 17 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fire blight.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Fire blight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fire%20blight. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.

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