Search Result for "plague": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (5)

1. a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal;
[syn: plague, pestilence, pest, pestis]

2. any epidemic disease with a high death rate;
[syn: plague, pestilence, pest]

3. a swarm of insects that attack plants;
- Example: "a plague of grasshoppers"
[syn: infestation, plague]

4. any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God);

5. an annoyance;
- Example: "those children are a damn plague"


VERB (2)

1. cause to suffer a blight;
- Example: "Too much rain may blight the garden with mold"
[syn: blight, plague]

2. annoy continually or chronically;
- Example: "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"
- Example: "This man harasses his female co-workers"
[syn: harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Plague \Plague\, n. [L. plaga a blow, stroke, plague; akin to Gr. ?, fr. ? to strike; cf. L. plangere to strike, beat. Cf. Plaint.] 1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation. --Shak. [1913 Webster] And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail. --Wyclif. [1913 Webster] The different plague of each calamity. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. (Med.) An acute malignant contagious fever, that often prevails in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, and has at times visited the large cities of Europe with frightful mortality; hence, any pestilence; as, the great London plague. "A plague upon the people fell." --Tennyson. [1913 Webster] Cattle plague. See Rinderpest. Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague; hence, a token of something incurable. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Plague \Plague\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plagued; p. pr. & vb. n. Plaguing.] 1. To infest or afflict with disease, calamity, or natural evil of any kind. [1913 Webster] Thus were they plagued And worn with famine. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. Fig.: To vex; to tease; to harass. [1913 Webster] She will plague the man that loves her most. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] Syn: To vex; torment; distress; afflict; harass; annoy; tease; tantalize; trouble; molest; embarrass; perplex. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

plague n 1: a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal [syn: plague, pestilence, pest, pestis] 2: any epidemic disease with a high death rate [syn: plague, pestilence, pest] 3: a swarm of insects that attack plants; "a plague of grasshoppers" [syn: infestation, plague] 4: any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God) 5: an annoyance; "those children are a damn plague" v 1: cause to suffer a blight; "Too much rain may blight the garden with mold" [syn: blight, plague] 2: annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" [syn: harass, hassle, harry, chivy, chivvy, chevy, chevvy, beset, plague, molest, provoke]
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

PLAGUE, n. In ancient times a general punishment of the innocent for admonition of their ruler, as in the familiar instance of Pharaoh the Immune. The plague as we of to-day have the happiness to know it is merely Nature's fortuitous manifestation of her purposeless objectionableness.