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definitions

pest

[pest]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pest ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an annoying or troublesome person, animal, or thing; nuisance.
an insect or other small animal that harms or destroys garden plants, trees, etc.
a deadly epidemic disease, especially a plague; pestilence.

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RELATED WORDS

scourge, contagion, infection, virus, plague, epidemic, blight, bug, irritant, irritation, bore, nuisance, creep, annoyance, curse, nudge, nag, exasperation, pill, headache

Origin of pest

First recorded in 1545–55, pest is from the Latin word pestis plague
Related formsde-pest, verb (used with object)

Synonyms for pest

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pest ON THESAURUS.COM
1. annoyance. 3. pandemic, scourge, epidemic.

Pest

[pest; Hungarian pesht]

noun

See under Budapest.

Budapest

[boo-duh-pest, boo-duh-pest; Hungarian boo -do-pesht]

noun

a city in and the capital of Hungary, in the central part, on the Danube River: formed 1873 from two cities on the W bank of the Danube (Buda and Obuda) and one on the E bank (Pest).
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pest

Contemporary Examples of pest

Historical Examples of pest

  • He passed on unsuspected and deadly, like a pest in the street full of men.

    The Secret Agent

    Joseph Conrad

  • She is a demon now, and the pest of married women and their babies.'

    Wilfrid Cumbermede

    George MacDonald

  • Thus he kept it up for years, and was a pest throughout the neighborhood.

  • And then that pest of an office boy began shouting his name.

    Fair Harbor

    Joseph Crosby Lincoln

  • Two methods of control have been developed to keep this pest under.

British Dictionary definitions for pest

pest

noun

a person or thing that annoys, esp by imposing itself when it is not wanted; nuisance
  1. any organism that damages crops, injures or irritates livestock or man, or reduces the fertility of land
  2. (as modifier)pest control
rare an epidemic disease or pestilence

Word Origin for pest

C16: from Latin pestis plague, of obscure origin

Budapest

noun

the capital of Hungary, on the River Danube: formed in 1873 from the towns of Buda and Pest. Traditionally Buda, the old Magyar capital, was the administrative and Pest the trade centre: suffered severely in the Russian siege of 1945 and in the unsuccessful revolt against the Communist regime (1956). Pop: 1 719 342 (2003 est)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for pest
n.

1550s (in imprecations, "a pest upon ____," etc.), "plague, pestilence," from Middle French peste (1530s), from Latin pestis "deadly contagious disease; a curse, bane," of uncertain origin. Meaning "noxious or troublesome person or thing" first recorded c.1600.

Budapest

Hungarian capital, formed 1872 from merger of two cities on opposite shores of the Danube, Buda (probably from a word originally meaning "water") + Pest, a Hungarian word meaning "furnace, oven, cove," also in Slavic (cf. Russian pech'). Cf. Ofen, literally "oven," the old German name for the place.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for pest

pest

[pĕst]

n.

An injurious plant or animal, especially one harmful to humans.
A deadly epidemic disease; a pestilence.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Culture definitions for pest

Budapest

[(booh-duh-pest, booh-duh-pesht)]

Capital of Hungary and largest city in the country, located in north-central Hungary on both banks of the Danube River; the industrial, cultural, and transportation center of Hungary.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.