plague

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: pestilencepestpestisinfestationblightharasshassleharrychivychivvychevychevvy

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 animalSynonyms: pestilencepestpestis
  2. any epidemic disease with a high death rateSynonyms: pestilencepest
  3. a swarm of insects that attack plants“a plague of grasshoppers”Synonyms: infestation
  4. any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)
  5. an annoyance“those children are a damn plague”

Verb (2)

  1. cause to suffer a blight“Too much rain may blight the garden with mold”Synonyms: blight
  2. annoy continually or chronically“He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked”“This man harasses his female co-workers”Synonyms: harasshassleharrychivychivvychevychevvybesetmolestprovoke
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]

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]

The Devil's Dictionary

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.
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