blight 
spelled Mite. Origin unknown ; the various ex- 
planations offered all tail for luck of evidence.] 
1. Some influence, usually hidden or not con- 
spicuous, that nips, blasts, or destroys plants ; 
a diseased sliite . 1 phmts caused by the condi- 
tion of the soil, atmospheric influences, insects, 
parasitic plants, etc. ; smut, mildew, or the like. 
In botany it is sometimes n .-.tin t. -.1 to a flags of minute 
parasitic fungi, the Erysipltaci'ii, ulii.-h mow upon the 
surf ace of leaves or stems without .-iitei-int; the tissues, and 
pnidnee nwliithdi appearance, but is frequently utplleaalio 
U> th4>se of other group* which arc destructive to crops. 
The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence. 
Courper, Task, vi. 772. 
2. Figuratively, any malignant or mysterious 
influence that nips, blasts, destroys, or brings 
to naught ; anything which withers hope, blasts 
one's prospects, or checks prosperity. 
A bliijlit seemed to have fallen over our fortunes. 
Disraeli. 
The biting presence of a petty degrading care, such as 
casts the blight of irony over all higher effort. 
George KIM, Mlddlemarch, II. 178. 
3. In med. : () A slight facial paralysis in- 
duced by sudden cold or damp. (6) See blights. 
Bladder-blight, a disease of peach-trees caused by the 
parasitic fungus Exoatc\u i/r/oruiaiw, which produces in- 
Hated distortions iu the leaves. See Exoaixux. Fear- 
blight, an epidemic disease attacking pear-trees, also 
known as jire-bliqht, and wlu-n ulfeeting the apple and 
quince as tvrig-bliiiht, caused by a microscopic fungus. 
jlicrococcu* amylovorus, one of the bacteria. Also called 
anthrax and tnin-scald. 
blight (but), v. t. [< blight, n.] 1. To affect 
with blight; cause to wither or decay; nip, 
blast, or destroy. 
A cold and wet summer blighted the corn. 
Emerton, Misc., p. 68. 
2. To exert a malignant or baleful influence 
on; blast or mar the beauty, hopes, or pros- 
pects of ; frustrate. 
The standard of police Is the measure of political justice. 
The atmosphere will blight it, it cannot live here. 
Lamb, Artificial Comedy of Last Century. 
blight-bird (blit'berd), n. A bird, as a species 
of Zosterops, useful in clearing trees of blight 
and of insects. 
blighted (bli'ted), p. a. Smitten with blight ; 
blasted. 
blighting (bli'ting), p. a. Producing the ef- 
fects of blight. 
I found it [Tintoretto's house] had nothing to offer me 
but the usual number of commonplace rooms In the usual 
blighting state of restoration, llowells, Venetian Life, xv. 
blightingly (bli'ting-li), adv. By blighting; 
with blighting influence or effect. 
blights (blits), n. pi. [See blight, n.] A name 
given in some parts of the United States to cer- 
tain forms of urticaria or nettle-rash. 
bliket, * [ME. bliken and bliken : see 
To shine; gleam. 
blikent, . [ME. blikncn (= Icel. blikna), < 
bliken, shine: see blike, bitch 1 .] 1. To become 
pale. 2. To shine. 
blimbing (blim'bing), n. Same as bilimbi. 
blin 1 t (Win), c. [< ME. blinnen, rarely bilinnen, 
usually iutrans., < AS. blinnan, intrans., cease, 
contr. of 'belinnan (= OHG. bilinnan), (. be- + 
IIHIHIII. ME. liiiiini, mod. dial. tin. Sc. lin, linn. 
leen, cease, = Icel. linna = Dan. linne, linde = 
OHG. "tinnan, in bi-linnan above, and MHG. 
ge-linnen = Goth, "linnan, in af-linnan, leave 
off.] I. intrunx. To cease; leave off. 
I 'gan cry ere I Win, 
O, her eyes are paths to sin ! 
Greene, Penitent Palmer's Ode. 
II. trans. To put a stop to. 
For nathemore for that spectacle bad 
Did th' other two their cruell vengeaunce Win, 
But both attonce on both sides him bestad. 
>>...->-, F. y., III. v. 22. 
blinH (blin), . [< ME. blin, < AS. blinn, cessa- 
tion, < blinndn, cease: see the verb.] End; 
cessation. /'. Jonson. 
blin- (bliu), a. A Scotch form of blind. 
blind 1 (blind), a. [< ME. blind, blynd, < AS. 
blind = OS. blind = OFries. blind = D. blind = 
OHG. MHG. Mint, G. blind = Icel. blindr = Sw. 
blind = Dan. blind = Goth, blinds, blind ; cf. 
Lit It. blendeas, blind, Lett, blenst, see dimly. 
OBulg. bledii, pale, dim; with factitive verb 
AS. li/i-iiil/ui, i-ii-., make blind (see blend 2 ). The 
supposed connection with AS. blandan, etc., E. 
bland 1 , as if 'with confused sight,' is doubtful.] 
1. Destitute of the sense of sight, whether by 
natural defect or by deprivation, permanently 
or temporarily ; not having sight. 
They be Wind leaders of the blind. Mat. \v. n. 
Hence 2. Figuratively, lacking in the fac- 
ulty of discernment; destitute of intellectual, 
587 
moral, or spiritual sight ; unable to understand 
or judge. 
I am full i.l'itni' in Poet* Arto, 
thereof 1 i an no skill : 
All > 11. ..[in n. . I put apart, 
follouinu' inyiif ..\vni- wyll. 
lih,,df. Bated Nurture (E. E. T. 8.), p. 71. 
At a solemn procession I have wept abundantly, while 
my consorts, blind with opposition mid prejudice, ha\. 
fallen into an access of scorn and laughter. 
Burnt, K.I]-:. > Medici,!. :t. 
He fought his doubts and gather' d strength, 
He would not make his judgment blitid. 
'A.,,,,,/,-,,,,, In Memoriam, xcvl. 
3. Not directed or governed by sight, physical 
or mental; not proceeding from or controlled 
by reason: as, blind groping; blind tenacity. 
That which is thought to have done the Bishops hurt, 
Is their going about to bring men to a Mind obedience. 
SeUlen, Table-Talk, p. 23. 
Specifically 4. Undiscriminating ; heedless ; 
inconsiderate; unreflecting; headlong. 
His feare of God may be as faulty as a blind zeale. 
Milluu, Elkonoklastea, Ix. 
This plan la recommended neither to blitul approbation 
nor to blind reprobation. Jay. 
5. Not possessing or proceeding from intelli- 
gence or consciousness; without direction or 
control; irrational; fortuitous: as, a Wind force 
or agency; blind chance. 8. Filled with or en- 
veloped in darkness; dark; obscure; not easily 
discernible: as, a Wind corner. [Archaic.] 
The Wind cave of eternal night. Shak., Rich. IIL, T. 3. 
The blind mazes of this tangled wood. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 181. 
Mr. Pierce hath let his wife's closet, and the little Mi ml 
bedchamber, and a garret, to a silk-man for 601. fine, and 
301. per annum. /'<W, Diary, II. 459. 
Hence 7. Difficult to see, literally or figura- 
tively ; hard to understand ; hard to make put ; 
unintelligible: as, blind outlines ; Mind writing; 
/"'.'/."/ reasoning. 
Written in such a queer blind . . . hand. 
Hawthorne, Grandfather's Chair. 
8f. Unlighted: as, blind candles. 9. Covered; 
concealed from sight ; hidden. 
On the Wind rocks are lost. Dryden. 
10t. Out of sight or public view; out of the 
way; private; secret. 
A Wind place where Mr. Goldsborough was to meet me. 
Pejnjt, Diary, Oct. 15, 1881. 
I was forced to go to a Wind chophouse, and dine for 
tenpence. Swift, Journal to Stella, Letter 5. 
11. Without openings for admitting light or 
seeing through: as. a Wind window; "blind 
walls, Tennyson, Godiva. 12. Not serving 
any apparent purpose ; wanting something or- 
dinarily essential to completeness ; not fulfil- 
ling its purpose : as, a blind shell, one that 
from a bad fuse or other reason has fallen with- 
out exploding. 13. Closed at one end ; having 
no outlet ; ctecal : as, a blind alley. 
Blind processes . . . from both the sides and ends of 
the air-bladder. Owen, Aunt. Vert, 
Offenders were supposed to be incarcerated behind an 
iron-plated door, closing up a second prison, consisting of 
a strong cell or two and a Wind alley some yard and a 
half wide. Dickent, Little Don-it, vi. 
Blind arcade. See arcade. Blind arch. See orcAl. 
Blind area, a space about the basement of a house 
designed to prevent moisture from reaching the walls of 
the building ; an ambit. Blind axle. See axle. Blind 
beetle, a name given to two insects : (a) the cockchafer 
(llelolontha vulyaris), so called because it flies against 
persons as if it were blind ; (6) ft small chestnut-colored 
beetle destitute of eyes, found in rice. Blind blocking. 
See blocking. Blind buckler, the stopper of a hawse- 
hole. Blind bud, an abortive bud; a bud that bears 
no bloom or fruit Hence plants are said by florists '> 
,</ Wind when they fail to form flower-buds. Blind 
coal, coal altered by the passage of a trap dike through 
or near it. iEng.] Blind copy, in printing, obscurely 
written copy; any copy hard to read. Blind door. *ee 
Wind window, below. Blind fire, fuel arranged on the 
grate or fireplace in such a manner as to be easily Ignited 
on the application of a lighted match. Blind holes, 
holes, as in plates to be riveted, which are not coincident. 
Blind lantern, a dark or unlighted lantern. Blind 
level, in mining, a level or drainage gallery which has a 
vertical shaft at each end and acts as an inverted siphon. 
Blind plants, abortive plants ; plants, as of the cabbage 
ami other members of the genus Brasgica, which have 
failed to produce central buds. Blind side, the weak 
or unguarded side of a person or thing. 
All people have their blind side their superstitions. 
Lamb, Opinions on Whist. 
Blind spot, the point in the retina, not sensitive to light, 
at which the optic nerve enters the eye. Blind stitch, 
(a) A stitch taken on the under side of any fabric in such a 
way that it is not seen. (M Ornamental sewing on leather, 
designed to be seen on only one side of the material. 
Blind story, (a) A pointless talc. (6) Same as M//I./ 
story. Blind tooling. See tooling. Blind vessel, in 
'/".<... :i vessel u ith an opening on one side only. Blind 
window, door, in nn-li., a feiitnre of design introduced 
I'.T tlie sake "f symmetry nr harm. my. itlentieal in treat- 
ment and ornament with u true window or door, but 
closed with a wall. 
blind-born 
blind 1 (blind), r . [< ME. Winden, become blind, 
make blind, deceive (= D. blinden = OFries. 
lilmdii = OHG. blinden, become blind, == Dan. 
blindc = Goth, ga-blindjan, make blind), < blind, 
a., blind. The more common ME. verb is that 
represented by blend?, q. v.] I. trans. 1. To 
make blind ; deprive of sight ; render incapable 
of seeing, wholly or partially. 
Tlie curtain drawn, his eye* begun 
To wink, being blinded with a greater light. 
SKak., Lucrece, L 875. 
2. To dim the perception or discernment of; 
make morally or intellectually blind. 
And tli. .11 shall take no gift : for the gift Uindeth the 
wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 
Ex. xxilL 8. 
Superstition hath blinded the hearts of men. 
Burton, Anat of Mel., p. SW. 
Whom passion hath not blinded. 
Tennyson, Ode to Memory, v. 
3. To render dark, literally or figuratively; 
obscure to the eye or to the mind ; conceal. 
Such darkness blindt the sky. Dryden. 
The state of the controversy between us he endeavoured, 
with all his art, to Wind and confound. Stiilingjleet. 
4. To dim or obscure by excess of light ; out- 
shine; eclipse. [Bare.] 
Thirsil, her beauty all the rest did blind, 
That she alone seem'd worthy of my love. 
P. Fletcher, Piscatory Eclogues, vi. 
Thy sweet eyes brighten slowly close to mine. 
Ere yet they Wind the stars. Tennyson, Tithonus. 
6. In road-making, to fill with gravel, as inter- 
stices between stones; cover with gravel or 
earth: as. to Wind road-metal. 6. In. gunnery, 
to provide with blindages.- Blinded battery. 
See battery. 
II. intrans. To become blind or dim. 
That ho [the, a pearl] Mynden of ble in bour ther ho lyggra, 
No-hot wasch hir wyth wourchyp in wyn as ho askes. 
Alliterative Poem(ed. Morris), 11. 1126. 
blind 1 (blind), n. [< blind], v.} 1. Anything 
which obstructs the sight, intercepts, the view, 
or keeps out light. 
If I have an ancient window overlooking my neighbour's 
ground, he may not erect any Wind to obstruct the light. 
Blaclatone, Com., II. 26. 
Specifically (a) A screen of some sort to prevent too 
strong a light from shining in at a window, or to keep 
people from seeing in ; a sun-screen or shade for a win- 
dow, niade of cloth, laths, etc., and used either Inside or 
outside. (6) One of a pair of pieces of leather, generally 
square, attached to a horse's bridle on either side of his 
head to prevent him from seeing sidewise or backward; a 
blinder or blinker, (c) A strong plank shutter placed In 
front of a port-hole as soon as the gun has been discharged. 
2. Something intended to mislead the eye or 
the understanding by concealing, or diverting 
attention from, the principal object or true de- 
sign ; a pretense or pretext. 
Making the one a Wind for the execution of the other. 
Decay qf Christ. Piety. 
3. A hiding-place ; an ambush or covert, es- 
pecially one prepared for concealing a hunter 
or fowler from his game. 
So when the watchful shepherd, from the Wind, 
Wounds with a random shaft the careless hind. 
Dryden, .-Eneid, iv. 
4. Milit., a kind of bomb-proof shelter for men 
or material ; a blindage. A tingle blind is commonly 
made of three strong perpendicular posts with planks be- 
tween them, covered with plates of iron on the outside, 
rendering them shot-proof. It Is used as a protection to 
laborers in the trenches. A double blind Is made by filling 
large wooden cheats with earth or bags of sand. 
5. In the game of poker, the stake deposited 
in the pool previous to the deal Stamped In 
the blind, in bookbinditw, said of ornaments to be printed 
in ink when the pattern is first stamped with a heated die, 
preparatory to a second stamping in ink of the same de- 
sign over the lust. Venetian blinds, window-blinds or 
-shades made of thin light laths or strips of wood fixed on 
strips of webbing. 
blind 2 (blind), n. Same as blende. 
blindage (blin'daj), n. [< Winrfi + -one.'} 1. 
Milit., a blind; a screen made of timber and 
earth, used to protect men in a trench or cov- 
ered way ; also, a mantelet. 
When a trench has to be pushed forward in a position 
where the command of the dangerous point Is so great 
that it cannot be sheltered from the plunging fire by 
traverses, it is covered on the top and on the sides by fas- 
cines and earth supported by a framework, and is termed 
a blindage. Farrow, Mil. Encyc. 
2. A hood so arranged that it can be made 
to cover the eyes of a horse if he essays to run 
away, 
blindage-frame (blin'daj-fram), n. A wooden 
frame used in the construction of a blindage 
to support fascines, earth, etc. 
blind-ball (blind'bal), n. Same as btindman's- 
bitff. 2. 
blind-born (bllnd'born), a. Born blind; con- 
genitally blind. [Rare. ] 
