[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.
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And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail.
--Wyclif.
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The different plague of each calamity. --Shak.
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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.
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Cattle plague. See Rinderpest.
Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague;
hence, a token of something incurable.
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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.
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Thus were they plagued
And worn with famine. --Milton.
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2. Fig.: To vex; to tease; to harass.
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She will plague the man that loves her most.
--Spenser.
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Syn: To vex; torment; distress; afflict; harass; annoy;
tease; tantalize; trouble; molest; embarrass; perplex.
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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.