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plague
[ pleyg ]
noun
- an epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence.
- 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.
- any widespread affliction, calamity, or evil, especially one regarded as a direct punishment by God:
a plague of war and desolation.
- any cause of trouble, annoyance, or vexation:
Uninvited guests are a plague.
Synonyms: , ,
verb (used with object)
- to trouble, annoy, or torment in any manner:
The question of his future plagues him with doubt.
- to annoy, bother, or pester:
Ants plagued the picnickers.
Synonyms: , , , , , , , ,
- to smite with a plague, pestilence, death, etc.; scourge:
those whom the gods had plagued.
- to infect with a plague; cause an epidemic in or among:
diseases that still plague the natives of Ethiopia.
- to afflict with any evil:
He was plagued by allergies all his life.
plague
/ ɪɡ /
noun
- any widespread and usually highly contagious disease with a high fatality rate
- an infectious disease of rodents, esp rats, transmitted to man by the bite of the rat flea ( Xenopsylla cheopis )
- See bubonic plague
- something that afflicts or harasses
- informal.an annoyance or nuisance
- a pestilence, affliction, or calamity on a large scale, esp when regarded as sent by God
- archaic.used to express annoyance, disgust, etc
a plague on you
verb
- to afflict or harass
- to bring down a plague upon
- informal.to annoy
plague
- Any of various highly infectious, usually fatal epidemic diseases.
- An often fatal disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted to humans usually by fleas that have bitten infected rats or other rodents.
- ◆ Bubonic plague , the most common type, is characterized by the tender, swollen lymph nodes called buboes, fever, clotting abnormalities of the blood, and tissue necrosis. An epidemic of bubonic plague in fourteenth-century Europe and Asia was known as the Black Death.
plague
- A highly contagious disease , such as bubonic plague , that spreads quickly throughout a population and causes widespread sickness and death.
Notes
Derived Forms
- ˈܱ, noun
Other Word Forms
- gܱ noun
- t·ܱ noun adjective
- ܲ·ܱ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of plague1
Word History and Origins
Origin of plague1
Idioms and Phrases
see avoid like the plague .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Amid the daily storm of sewage and plague of frogs that is Donald Trump's second administration, it’s difficult to say that anything beggars belief.
Tenants hunting for office space in the Los Angeles area are in the driver’s seat as vacancies plague many landlords trying to fill their buildings with people.
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi believes US involvement in extracting the minerals could help quell the violence that has plagued the east of the country for nearly 30 years.
Born and raised in an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., his younger years were plagued with what he called “complete buffoonery” — street fights, misplaced aggression and behavior that resulted in multiple arrests.
The Tijuana River has been plagued with untreated sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana for decades.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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