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. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ This vapor ] blasts vegetables, blights corn and fruit, and is sometimes injurious even to man. Woodward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To destroy the happiness of; to ruin; to mar essentially; to frustrate; as, to blight one's prospects. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seared in heart and lone and blighted. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be affected by blight; to blast; as, this vine never blights. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which frustrates one's plans or withers one's hopes; that which impairs or destroys. [ 1913 Webster ]

A blight seemed to have fallen over our fortunes. Disraeli. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. A rashlike eruption on the human skin. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Causing blight. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. So as to cause blight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a disease of spinach plants. [ WordNet 1.5 ]