plague

[ pleyg ]

noun

1. an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence.
2. an infectious, epidemic disease caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis, characterized by fever, chills, and prostration, transmitted to humans from rats by means of the bites of fleas. Compare bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, septicemic plague.
3. any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil, especially one regarded as a direct punishment by God:

   a plague of war and desolation.

4. any cause of trouble, annoyance, or vexation:

   Uninvited guests are a plague.

   Synonyms: torment, bother, nuisance

verb (used with object)

, plagued, pla·guing.

1. to trouble, annoy, or torment in any manner:

   The question of his future plagues him with doubt.

2. to annoy, bother, or pester:

   Ants plagued the picnickers.

   Synonyms: disturb, irritate, badger, worry, fret, hector, harry, vex, harass

3. to smite with a plague, pestilence, death, etc.; scourge:

   those whom the gods had plagued.

4. to infect with a plague; cause an epidemic in or among:

   diseases that still plague the natives of Ethiopia.

5. to afflict with any evil:

   He was plagued by allergies all his life.

plague

/ pleɪɡ /

noun

1. any widespread and usually highly contagious disease with a high fatality rate
2. an infectious disease of rodents, esp rats, transmitted to man by the bite of the rat flea ( Xenopsylla cheopis )
3. See bubonic plague
   See bubonic plague
4. something that afflicts or harasses
5. informal.
   an annoyance or nuisance
6. a pestilence, affliction, or calamity on a large scale, esp when regarded as sent by God
7. archaic.
   used to express annoyance, disgust, etc

   a plague on you

verb

1. to afflict or harass
2. to bring down a plague upon
3. informal.
   to annoy

plague

/ plāg /

1. Any of various highly infectious, usually fatal epidemic diseases.
2. An often fatal disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted to humans usually by fleas that have bitten infected rats or other rodents.
3. ◆ Bubonic plague , the most common type, is characterized by the tender, swollen lymph nodes called buboes, fever, clotting abnormalities of the blood, and tissue necrosis. An epidemic of bubonic plague in fourteenth-century Europe and Asia was known as the Black Death.

plague

1. A highly contagious disease , such as bubonic plague , that spreads quickly throughout a population and causes widespread sickness and death.

Notes

The term is also used to refer to widespread outbreaks of many kinds, such as a “plague of locusts.”

Derived Forms

• ˈplaguer, noun

Other Words From

• plaguer noun
• anti·plague noun adjective
• un·plagued adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of plague¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English plage, from Latin plāga “stripe, wound,” Late Latin: “pestilence”

Word History and Origins

Origin of plague¹

C14: from Late Latin plāga pestilence, from Latin: a blow; related to Greek plēgē a stroke, Latin plangere to strike

Idioms and Phrases

see avoid like the plague .

Synonym Study

See bother.

Example Sentences

How the 2021 Sundance Film Festival — and many of its films — reflected life in a time of plague.

From Vox

The crown used the information to gauge the toll of the plague on its largest city and the relative safety of conducting royal business within city limits.

From Washington Post

Throughout human history, we have been subjected to wave after wave of viral and bacterial plagues.

From Time

It’s unclear how the plague bacterium first reached Siberia or whether it caused widespread infections and death, Götherström says.

From Science News

Reading Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save in the year of the plague.

From Vox

Similar stories plague many parts of Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Asia.

From The Daily Beast

Why is violence against women central to so many of the conflicts that plague the planet today?

From The Daily Beast

Spread happens easily, however, and epidemics are propagated when the third form of plague occurs: pneumonia plague.

From The Daily Beast

As I described in an article over the summer when the fatal case in China was diagnosed, plague has three distinct clinical forms.

From The Daily Beast

The plague made a brief appearance in China earlier this year and continues in the U.S. with a few cases annually.

From The Daily Beast

The great plague of this and the subsequent year broke out at St. Giles, London.

From Project Gutenberg

Garnache need not plague himself with vexation that his rash temper alone had wrought his ruin now.

From Project Gutenberg

A man was whipped through London for going to court when his house was infected by plague.

From Project Gutenberg

The plague at Smyrna committed great ravages; about 300 died daily for some time.

From Project Gutenberg

Those little Babcocks are sure to come, invited or not, and as surely would plague the life out of her.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• afflict
• bedevil
• beleaguer
• bother
• haunt
• hound
• infest
• torment
• trouble
• worry