plague
English
Etymology
From Middle English plage, from Latin plāga (“blow, wound”), from plangō (“to strike”). Cognate with Dutch plaag, German Plage, Swedish plåga, French plaie and Polish plaga.
Pronunciation
Noun
plague (plural plagues)
- (often used with the, sometimes capitalized: the Plague) The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
- (pathology) An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but specifically by the above disease.
- A widespread affliction, calamity or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution.
- Ten Biblical plagues over Egypt, ranging from locusts to the death of the crown prince, finally forced Pharaoh to let Moses's people go
- A grave nuisance, whatever greatly irritates
- Rascal Bart is an utter plague, his pranks never cease until he's put over the knee
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
specific disease "the Plague"
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an epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence
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widespread affliction, calamity
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a nuisance
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
plague (third-person singular simple present plagues, present participle plaguing, simple past and past participle plagued)
- (transitive) To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
- Wikis are often plagued by vandalism
- (transitive) To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
- Natural catastrophies plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland
Derived terms
Translations
to harass
to afflict with disease or calamity