phony disease

noun

variants or less commonly phony peach

: a serious virus disease of the peach that causes dwarfing, abnormally dark green leaves, and a light crop of small but highly colored fruit, makes the trees stop bearing after a few years, and is of lesser importance on almond, apricot, nectarine, and plum

Word History

Etymology

phony alteration (influenced by phony entry 1) of pony entry 1; from the dwarfing effect of the disease

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