blight

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “Some there are vvho imagine the moſt deſtructive Blights vvhich attend Fruit-Trees, are produc'd by ſmall Shovvers of Rain, or vvhite Hoar-Froſts falling upon the Bloſſoms of Fruit-trees, vvhich being ſucceeded by cold North or Eaſterly VVinds, or froſty Mornings, are the Occaſion of the frequent Blights vvhich happen in the Spring Seaſon: […]”

   “A blight in 1855–56 set back the industry, many plantations being ruined and then given over to sugar cane. After the blight had disappeared, the plantations were re-established, and prosperity continued for years.”

2. (countable, uncountable)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. (broadly, countable, uncountable)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.”

4. (broadly, countable, dated, uncountable)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.
5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)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.”

6. (countable, figuratively, specifically, uncountable)A rundown and unsightly condition of an urban area; also, such an area.

verb

1. (transitive)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.

   “But if it happens, as ſometimes it does, that this Vapour bears up along vvith it any noxious mineral Steams, it then blasts Vegetables, eſpecially thoſe vvhich are more young and tender: blights Corn and Fruits: and is ſometimes injurious even to Men vvho chance to be then abroad in the Fields.”

   “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.”

   “Much is permitted to the power of spirits, so that, being unseen and unperceived, they appear rather in their effects than in their acts: as when some lurking evil in the air blighteth the fruit or grain in the blossom, killeth it in the blade, woundeth it in its full growth, and when the atmosphere tainted in some secret way poureth over the earth its pestilential vapours.”

2. (broadly, dated, transitive)To affect (a body part) with a disease.

   “[B]lighted be the tongue / That names thy name without the honour due!”

3. (figuratively, transitive)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.”

   “Slavery, in all thy forms—mental and bodily—we detest thee! like the Upas-tree, thou blightest every thing within they poisonous influence; like the simoom, thou blastest all, wherever thy pestiferous breath reaches.”

   “Even he, cold and indifferent as he is, shall repent! I shall blight his hopes, as he has blighted mine.”

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

   “This vine never blights.”