WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025blight /blaɪt/USA pronunciation
n.
- Plant Diseases a disease of plants, in which there is loss of color and wilting:[uncountable]All my houseplants suffered from blight.
- Sociologythe state or result of ruin, difficulty, or damage: [uncountable]Crime and corruption are the beginnings of urban blight.[countable]pollution and war as blights on the planet.
v. [~ + object]
- to cause to wither:The disease blighted all the elms and oaks.
- to destroy;
ruin;
frustrate: Illness blighted her hopes.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025blight
(blīt),USA pronunciation n.
- Plant Diseases
- 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.
- Sociologythe state or result of being blighted or deteriorated;
dilapidation;
decay:urban blight.
v.t.
- to cause to wither or decay;
blast:Frost blighted the crops.
- to destroy;
ruin;
frustrate:Illness blighted his hopes.
v.i.
- to suffer blight.
- of uncertain origin, originally 1605–15
blight′ing•ly, adv.
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged . curse, plague, scourge, bane.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
blight / blaɪt/ - any plant disease characterized by withering and shrivelling without rotting
- 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
- to cause or suffer a blight
- (transitive) to frustrate or disappoint
- (transitive) to spoil; destroy
Etymology: 17th Century: perhaps related to Old English blǣce rash; compare bleach
'blight' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):