Blight
/blaɪt/
nounverbB2
Definition
Blight means a disease or problem that badly harms plants or crops, making them die or look unhealthy. It can also describe anything that causes damage or ruins the beauty or success of a place or thing. When used as a verb, it means to cause this kind of damage or harm.
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See It in Action
A plant disease that causes damage or death
- •The farmer’s crops were destroyed by blight last season.
- •Potato blight caused a big food shortage in history.
- •Gardeners try to protect plants from blight to keep them healthy.
Something that causes harm or ruins a place or thing
- •The abandoned building was a blight on the neighborhood.
- •Pollution is a blight that spoils the beauty of the river.
- •The city's economic problems were a blight on its growth.
To cause harm or damage (verb)
- •The frost blighted the young plants.
- •The war blighted the country’s development.
- •Neglect blighted the once-beautiful park.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "blight" like "bad" or "hurt," but it is a special kind of damage that makes plants or places look sick or ruined.
- ✓Picture a garden where leaves turn brown and dry, and flowers stop growing—that is blight on the plants.
- ✓It's the sad feeling when you see a once-beautiful park full of dead or dying trees and dirty areas.
- ✓Sounds like "blight" → imagine a bright light suddenly turning off and everything around it becoming dark and lifeless.
- ✓In stories, blight can be like a curse that makes a village or forest unhealthy and sad.
- ✓NOT like "grow" (which means to become healthy and bigger), blight means the opposite: to become weak or die.
- ✓NOT like "break" (which is sudden damage), blight is often slow and spreads over time.
- ✓NOT like "pollute" (which means to make dirty), blight often means damage that causes sickness or death, not just dirtiness.
Try Other Words
- •Disease: illness affecting plants or people (Use when focusing on the medical or biological cause)
- •Harm: general damage or hurt (Use for broad situations, not just plants or places)
- •Ruin: complete destruction or failure (Use when the damage is total and final)
- •Decay: slow breaking down or rotting (Use when emphasizing slow natural breakdown)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: (no clear prefix or suffix; the word stands alone)
- •Etymology: From Old English "blīte," meaning a plant disease or injury
- •Historical development: Originally used for plant diseases, especially those causing spots or decay; later expanded to mean any harmful or spoiling effect
- •Modern usage: Used for plant diseases and metaphorically for anything that causes harm or makes something less good or beautiful
Reflect & Connect
•Can blight only happen to plants, or can it affect other things like communities or ideas? How?
•How do you think people can stop or fix blight when it happens in a garden or a city?
Fill in the blanks
1.The farmer’s field was full of blight because the weather ___ very wet and warm.
2.When a plant has blight, its leaves often turn ___ and dry instead of green and healthy.
3.The empty, broken houses were a blight ___ the town’s appearance.
4.The frost ___ the crops, making them weak and unable to grow.
5.Unlike a sudden storm, blight usually spreads ___ over time.
6.People say pollution is a blight ___ the river because it makes the water dirty and life hard.
7.The gardener worked hard to prevent blight ___ the flowers by using special treatments.