plague
[pleyg] 
noun, verb, plagued, pla⋅guing.| 1. | an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence. |
| 2. | an infectious, epidemic disease caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis, characterized by fever, chills, and prostration, transmitted to humans from rats by means of the bites of fleas. Compare bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, septicemic plague. |
| 3. | any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil, esp. one regarded as a direct punishment by God: a plague of war and desolation. |
| 4. | any cause of trouble, annoyance, or vexation: Uninvited guests are a plague. |
| 5. | to trouble, annoy, or torment in any manner: The question of his future plagues him with doubt. |
| 6. | to annoy, bother, or pester: Ants plagued the picnickers. |
| 7. | to smite with a plague, pestilence, death, etc.; scourge: those whom the gods had plagued. |
| 8. | to infect with a plague; cause an epidemic in or among: diseases that still plague the natives of Ethiopia. |
| 9. | to afflict with any evil: He was plagued by allergies all his life. |
1350–1400; ME plage < L plāga stripe, wound, LL: pestilence
Related forms:
4. nuisance, bother, torment. 6. harass, vex, harry, hector, fret, worry, badger, irritate, disturb. See bother.
Plague, The
| French, La Peste), a novel (1947) by Albert Camus. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| plague (plāg) n.
[Middle English plage, blow, calamity, plague, from Late Latin plāga, from Latin, blow, wound; see plāk-2 in Indo-European roots. V., Middle English plaghen, from Middle Dutch, from plaghe, plague, from Late Latin plāga.] plagu'er n. |
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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. And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail. --Wyclif. The different plague of each calamity. --Shak. 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. Cattle plague. See Rinderpest. Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague; hence, a token of something incurable.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. Thus were they plagued And worn with famine. --Milton. 2. Fig.: To vex; to tease; to harass. She will plague the man that loves her most. --Spenser. Syn: To vex; torment; distress; afflict; harass; annoy; tease; tantalize; trouble; molest; embarrass; perplex.Cite This Source
plague [(playg)]
A highly contagious disease, such as bubonic plague, that spreads quickly throughout a population and causes widespread sickness and death.
Note: The term is also used to refer to widespread outbreaks of many kinds, such as a “plague of locusts.”
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plague (n.)
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Main Entry: plague
Pronunciation: 'plAg
Function: noun
1 : an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality :
2 : a virulent contagious febrile disease that is caused by abacterium of the genus Yersinia (Y. pestis syn. Pasteurella pestis), that occurs in bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic forms, and that is usually transmitted from rats to humans bythe bite of infected fleas (as in bubonic plague) or directly from person to person (as in pneumonic plague) called also black death
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plague (plāg)
n.
A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.
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plague (plāg) Pronunciation Key
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Plague
a "stroke" of affliction, or disease. Sent as a divine chastisement (Num. 11:33; 14:37; 16:46-49; 2 Sam. 24:21). Painful afflictions or diseases, (Lev. 13:3, 5, 30; 1 Kings 8:37), or severe calamity (Mark 5:29; Luke 7:21), or the judgment of God, so called (Ex. 9:14). Plagues of Egypt were ten in number. (1.) The river Nile was turned into blood, and the fish died, and the river stank, so that the Egyptians loathed to drink of the river (Ex. 7:14-25). (2.) The plague of frogs (Ex. 8:1-15). (3.) The plague of lice (Heb. kinnim, properly gnats or mosquitoes; comp. Ps. 78:45; 105:31), "out of the dust of the land" (Ex. 8:16-19). (4.) The plague of flies (Heb. arob, rendered by the LXX. dog-fly), Ex. 8:21-24. (5.) The murrain (Ex.9:1-7), or epidemic pestilence which carried off vast numbers of cattle in the field. Warning was given of its coming. (6.) The sixth plague, of "boils and blains," like the third, was sent without warning (Ex.9:8-12). It is called (Deut. 28:27) "the botch of Egypt," A.V.; but in R.V., "the boil of Egypt." "The magicians could not stand before Moses" because of it. (7.) The plague of hail, with fire and thunder (Ex. 9:13-33). Warning was given of its coming. (Comp. Ps. 18:13; 105:32, 33). (8.) The plague of locusts, which covered the whole face of the earth, so that the land was darkened with them (Ex. 10:12-15). The Hebrew name of this insect, _arbeh_, points to the "multitudinous" character of this visitation. Warning was given before this plague came. (9.) After a short interval the plague of darkness succeeded that of the locusts; and it came without any special warning (Ex. 10:21-29). The darkness covered "all the land of Egypt" to such an extent that "they saw not one another." It did not, however, extend to the land of Goshen. (10.) The last and most fearful of these plagues was the death of the first-born of man and of beast (Ex. 11:4, 5; 12:29,30). The exact time of the visitation was announced, "about midnight", which would add to the horror of the infliction. Its extent also is specified, from the first-born of the king to the first-born of the humblest slave, and all the first-born of beasts. But from this plague the Hebrews were completely exempted. The Lord "put a difference" between them and the Egyptians. (See PASSOVER.)
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plague
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