/ blaɪt; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
[ vn ] to spoil or damage sth, especially by causing a lot of problems :
His career has been blighted by injuries.
an area blighted by unemployment
■ noun
1.
[ U , C ] any disease that kills plants, especially crops :
potato blight
2.
[ sing. , U ] blight (on sb/sth) something that has a bad effect on a situation, a person's life or the environment :
His death cast a blight on the whole of that year.
urban blight (= areas in a city that are ugly or not cared for well)
••
WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent. (denoting inflammation of the skin): of unknown origin.