plagues of Egypt

1. The traditional name for the set of disasters that God inflicted on Egypt (see also Egypt) before the pharaoh let Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. The plagues, as recorded in the Book of Exodus, included swarms of locusts, hordes of frogs, and a scourge of boils. After the tenth and most horrible plague, in which the angel of Death killed every Egyptian firstborn male child, including the pharaoh's son, the pharaoh finally freed the Israelites. (See Passover (see also Passover).)

Example Sentences

When he later learns that his wife died during an operation, Phibes blames her surgeons and murders them one by one using bizarre methods inspired by the biblical plagues of Egypt.

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This is a difficult time for the president — a time combining the plagues of Egypt and the trials of Job.

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A joke about the CDU being held responsible for the “seven plagues of Egypt” backfired: did the Catholic politician really not know the Old Testament listed 10 plagues?

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On Wednesday, a judge declined to sign off on the consent decree because he said it did not go far enough to address conditions he described as “somewhat reminiscent of the biblical plagues of Egypt.”

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The plagues of Egypt are invoked for the third act; so, for a boxes-toppling climax, is the Tower of Babel.

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