Definition of "pox"

pox

/pɑks/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural poxes
1. A disease characterized by purulent skin eruptions that may leave pockmarks.
2. Syphilis.
3. (figurative) A curse.
  Quotations
  A pox on him, he's a cat still.
  c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene iii]
verb
third-person singular simple present poxes, present participle poxing, simple past and past participle poxed
1. (transitive, dated) To infect with the pox, or syphilis.
  Quotations
  Jack had a moſt ſcandalous tongue, and perſuaded Peg that all mankind, beſides himſelf, were pox'd by that ſcarlet-faced whore, †Signiora Bubonia. “As for his brother Lord Peter, the tokens were evident on him, blotches, ſcabs, and the corona. […] ”
  , Dr. [John] Arbuthnot, “The History of John Bull: Part II, Chapter III”, in The History of John Bull [by Dr. Arbuthnot]. And Poems on ſeveral Occasions by Dr. Jonathan Swift, with Several Miſcellaneous Pieces, by Dr. Swift and Mr. Pope, London: D. Midwinter, A. Tonson, page 60