blight.

1. A plant disease or damaging condition that causes tissue to deteriorate or die.

2. A damaging influence or condition that spoils prospects, well-being, or a place.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• potato blight
• blight spreads

On the page

Blight crossed the field before the household noticed the first dead leaves.

The records showed how blight had ruined the crop the previous autumn.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Singular blight; plural blights. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: blights.