Definition

Blast is a symptom of plant disease characterized by shedding of unopened buds; classically, the failure to produce fruit or seed.

Etymology. "stricken by malignant forces (natural or supernatural), cursed, blighted," 1552, from blast  (q.v.), with the notion of "balefully breathed upon." In the sense of "cursed, damned" it is attested from 1682. Meaning "drunk or stoned" it dates from 1972.