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   plague

   /pleɪɡ/

   noun

   • 1. a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes (bubonic plague) and sometimes infection of the lungs (pneumonic plague).
   • ▪ any contagious disease that spreads rapidly and kills many people: "diseases like smallpox wiped out the indigenous people in a succession of plagues" Similar diseasesicknessbubonic plaguepneumonic plaguethe Black Deathcontagious diseasecontagionepidemicpandemicarchaic:pestilencethe pestmurrain
   • 2. an unusually large number of insects or animals infesting a place and causing damage: "a plague of locusts" Similar huge numberinfestationepidemicinvasioninfluxswarmmultitudehost
   • 3. a thing causing trouble or irritation: "staff theft is usually the plague of restaurants" Similar banecursescourgeafflictionblightcancercanker
   • ▪ used as a curse: archaic "a plague on all their houses!"

   verb

   • 1. cause continual trouble or distress to: "he has been plagued by ill health" Similar afflictbedevilcause suffering totorturetormenttroublebesetdogcurserack
   • ▪ pester or harass (someone) continually: "he was plaguing her with questions" Similar pesterharassbadgerbothertormentpersecutebedevilharryhounddisturbtroublebe a nuisance tokeep afterirritateworrynagannoyvexmolestmitherinformal:hasslebugaggravategive someone a hard timedrive up the walldrive round the benddevilride

   Word Origin late Middle English: Latinplaga ‘stroke, wound’, probably from Greek (Doric dialect) plaga, from a base meaning ‘strike’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. plaguesome adjective

   Scrabble Points: 9

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