Great Famine, famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845–49 when the potato crop failed in successive years. The Irish famine was the worst to occur in Europe in the 19th century: about one million people died from starvation or from typhus and other famine-related diseases.| Encyclopedia Britannica
a disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and death of parts (such as leaves and tubers); an organism (such as an insect or a fungus) that causes blight; something that frustrates plans or hopes… See the full definition| www.merriam-webster.com