Pierce's disease

noun

ˈpir-səz-

: a disease of grapes that is caused by a bacterium (Xylella fastidiosa fastidiosa) which blocks the flow of xylem, that is marked especially by yellowing and browning of the leaves, leaf loss, shriveling of fruit clusters, stunted and irregular new growth, and eventual death of the vines within one to five years, and that is spread by sap-feeding leafhoppers and spittlebugs

Carried by an insect, Pierce's disease affects grapevines much like a severe drought condition, causing the grapevines to eventually shut down from lack of moisture.—

Robyn Bullard

Pierce's disease is most prevalent in mild-winter areas and is the principal factor limiting European grapevine cultivation in the American South.—

Steve Heimoff

Examples of Pierce's disease in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Among the Southern Sensations' claim to fame is a resistance to Pierce's disease. —

Calvin Finch, San Antonio Express-News, 17 Feb. 2023

Word History

Etymology

after Newton B. Pierce †1916 U.S. plant pathologist, who described the disease

Note: Pierce, born about 1856, wrote about the infestation in The California Vine Disease: A Preliminary Report of Investigations, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Vegetable Diseases, Bulletin No. 2 (Washington, 1892).

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of Pierce's disease was in 1941

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Pierce's disease.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pierce%27s%20disease. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

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