Blight (blīt), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Blighted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Blighting.] [Perh. contr. from AS. blīcettan to
glitter, fr. the same root as E. bleak. The meaning "to blight"
comes in that case from to glitter, hence, to be white or pale, grow pale,
make pale, bleach. Cf. Bleach, Bleak.] 1.
To affect with blight; to blast; to prevent the growth and fertility
of.
[This vapor] blasts vegetables, blights corn and
fruit, and is sometimes injurious even to man.
Woodward.
2. Hence: To destroy the happiness of; to ruin; to
mar essentially; to frustrate; as, to blight one's
prospects.
Seared in heart and lone and blighted.
Byron.
Blight, v. i. To be affected by blight;
to blast; as, this vine never blights.
Blight, n. 1. Mildew;
decay; anything nipping or blasting; -- applied as a general name to
various injuries or diseases of plants, causing the whole or a part to
wither, whether occasioned by insects, fungi, or atmospheric
influences.
2. The act of blighting, or the state of being
blighted; a withering or mildewing, or a stoppage of growth in the whole or
a part of a plant, etc.
3. That which frustrates one's plans or withers
one's hopes; that which impairs or destroys.
A blight seemed to have fallen over our fortunes.
Disraeli.
4. (Zoöl.) A downy species of aphis, or
plant louse, destructive to fruit trees, infesting both the roots and
branches; -- also applied to several other injurious insects.
5. pl. A rashlike eruption on the human
skin. [U. S.]
