Comprehensive
Dictionary Suite
Help
Help
Help
 
     
Lookup History
plague

plague

 
 
pronunciation:
pleIg
parts of speech:
noun, transitive verb
features:
Word Combinations (noun, verb), Word Explorer
part of speech: noun
definition 1: any disaster that affects a large population, esp. a disease epidemic or the sudden influx of harmful insects.
The crops were destroyed by a plague of locusts.How many plagues has this region suffered throughout the centuries?
synonyms:
pestilence, scourge
similar words:
affliction, epidemic, infliction, pest, visitation
definition 2: a highly contagious and usually fatal disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis in which victims suffer high fever, chills, and severe exhaustion.
Plague is commonly transmitted to humans through bites from fleas on infected rats and manifests itself in bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic forms.
 
definition 3: (prec. by "the") an epidemic of bubonic plague that ravaged much of the world in the fourteenth century; the Black Death.
The plague killed approximately half the population of Europe.
synonyms:
Black Death, bubonic plague
similar words:
pandemic, pest
definition 4: a cause of harm, annoyance, or irritation.
There has been a plague of vandalism in the city recently.
synonyms:
affliction, pestilence
similar words:
bane, bother, enemy, epidemic, evil, nuisance, thorn
Word CombinationsSubscriber feature About this feature
 
part of speech: transitive verb
inflections: plagues, plaguing, plagued
definition 1: to annoy or harass; vex; torment.
The reporters plagued the star with questions.
synonyms:
annoy, bother, bug, pester, torment, vex
similar words:
afflict, aggravate, badger, beleaguer, beset, exasperate, harass, hound, importune, irk, nettle, peeve, persecute
definition 2: to cause to suffer from or as if from a plague.
In his later years, he was plagued by arthritis.Battles between warlords plagued the country for a decade.
synonyms:
afflict, agonize, anguish, harrow, torment
similar words:
cloud, distress, pain, punish, rack, scourge, trouble
Word CombinationsSubscriber feature About this feature
derivation: plaguer (n.)
Word Explorer
See
  disease, emotion