chestnut blight

noun

: a destructive disease of the American chestnut marked by cankers of the bark and cambium and caused by an imported fungus (Endothia parasitica synonym Cryphonectria parasitica)

Examples of chestnut blight in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web And the infamous chestnut blight, a fungus accidentally introduced from Asia to North America in the late 1800s, wiped out billions of American chestnut trees. Jason Delborne, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2019 But the chestnut blight five years earlier, that was still fresh. Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023 When the 1904 chestnut blight hit, Flora was nearly a decade into her career at the USDA. Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023 As instances of this nature may be mentioned English potato scab, silver scurf, chestnut blight disease and citrus canker, specimens of all of which had been secured by correspondence or requests for mycological assistance. Hilda Gitchell, Scientific American, 26 Jan. 2023 American chestnut trees have been decimated by chestnut blight, a fungal disease likely introduced to the United States a century ago by trees arriving from Asia. Discover Magazine, 22 Nov. 2010 Ozark chinquapins were once abundant in the Ozarks, but a fungal disease, chestnut blight, spread through the region in the 1960s wiping out most Ozark chinquapins. Flip Putthoff, Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2022 And in 1904, US foresters began planting Japanese chestnuts to cultivate for wood, bringing chestnut blight to their North American cousins, which were ill-equipped to fight the fungus; by 1940, most adult chestnuts were gone. Lauren Markham, Wired, 9 Oct. 2021 The killer was chestnut blight, a fungus native to China and Japan that was introduced with ornamental Japanese chestnuts in the early 1900s. Stephanie Pain, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Sep. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chestnut blight.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chestnut blight was circa 1909

Dictionary Entries Near chestnut blight

Cite this Entry

“Chestnut blight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chestnut%20blight. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

chestnut blight

noun
: a destructive disease of the chestnut of the eastern U.S. caused by a fungus

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