blight

noun

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\ ˈblīt

Definition of blight

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 botany

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

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

2 : something that frustrates plans or hopes the blight of poverty an abandoned factory that was a blight on the neighborhood

3 : something that impairs or destroys … censorship … has brought under its blight Ireland's greatest poets, dramatists, and scholars.— Paul Blanshard

4 : a deteriorated condition urban blight

blight

verb

blighted; blighting; blights

Definition of blight (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 botany : to affect (a plant) with a disease or injury marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (such as leaves and tubers) : to affect with blight (see blight entry 1 sense 1) The apple trees were blighted by fungus.

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

intransitive verb

botany : to suffer from or become affected with blight The potatoes blighted.

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More About blight

Examples of blight in a Sentence

Noun the city's spreading urban blight the expanding urban sprawl is a blight on the countryside Verb Builders blighted the land with malls and parking lots.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Diplodia tip blight, another disfiguring and damaging fungal disease, is especially common in Austrian pines. — Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 25 Dec. 2021 Cleveland has seen other instances of blight caused by neglect as a justification for removal of historic properties. — Steven Litt, cleveland, 23 Dec. 2021 Mobsters, street gangs, urban blight, pervasive corruption. — Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021 Program participants will work three days a week with the city crews on blight remediation and grounds maintenance. — Nushrat Rahman, Detroit Free Press, 9 Dec. 2021 Boxwood blight has been brought into this country from Europe. — Neil Sperry, San Antonio Express-News, 22 Oct. 2021 This explicit turn found immediate validation in the market: 1)We contracted to build and operate the Work Local blight remediation program for the Division of Public Works. — Roger Valdez, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021 McCain said the city wants to work on addressing blight issues with local businesses on three tiers — corporate owned, franchises, and independent businesses. — Carrie Napoleon, chicagotribune.com, 23 Aug. 2021 Kelley, who is running for mayor, opened the meeting by outlining his six priority areas, aside from revenue recovery: crime and safety, food insecurity, broadband, lead paint mitigation, blight elimination and jobs. — Robin Goist, cleveland, 23 Aug. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb In my experience, few things blight a career as much as a failed software implementation. — Mark Robinson, Forbes, 5 Oct. 2021 However, Camilla is also acutely aware of the challenges that blight gardeners’ efforts. — Victoria Murphy, Town & Country, 19 Aug. 2021 Of course, research clearly showed that wasn't the case, and in fact, productivity generally grew as people gained more control over their workday and were stripped of the various distractions that blight us in a physical office. — Adi Gaskell, Forbes, 31 May 2021 Similar scenes of devastation continue to blight other inner-city neighborhoods, including W. Broadway in north Minneapolis. — Jeffrey Meitrodt, Star Tribune, 23 Jan. 2021 Its players are encouraged to speak out and in recent years, many have found their voice to address the cruel inequality and racial prejudice that continues to blight their communities. — Don Riddell, CNN, 5 Sep. 2020 Flint residents had already seen auto plants close, unemployment skyrocket and gun violence and blight scar their streets. — New York Times, 18 Aug. 2020 The 65-year-old is scrambling to salvage his legacy, blighted by allegations of understating his compensation and raiding corporate resources for personal gain at Nissan. — Matthew Campbell, Bloomberg.com, 16 May 2020 And as coal slowly exits the energy equation, its legacy could blight the landscape, and public health, for generations. — Michael J. Coren, Quartz, 23 Apr. 2020

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

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Last Updated

11 Jan 2022

Cite this Entry

“Blight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blight. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.

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More Definitions for blight

blight

noun

English Language Learners Definition of blight

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a disease that makes plants dry up and die

: something that causes harm or damage like a disease

: a damaged condition

blight

verb

English Language Learners Definition of blight (Entry 2 of 2)

: to damage (plants) with a disease

: to damage (a thing or place)

See the full definition for blight in the English Language Learners Dictionary

blight

noun

\ ˈblīt

Kids Definition of blight

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a disease that makes parts of plants dry up and die

blight

verb

blighted; blighting

Kids Definition of blight (Entry 2 of 2)

: to injure or destroy by or as if by a blight Huge signs blighted the landscape.

blight

noun

\ ˈblīt

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