Definition of "plague"

plague

/pleɪɡ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural plagues
1. (often used with the, sometimes capitalized: the Plague) The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
  Quotations
  It was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the rest of my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague was returned again in Holland […] It mattered not from whence it came; but all agreed it was come into Holland again.
  1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year‎
2. (pathology) An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but specifically by the above disease.
3. A widespread affliction, calamity or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution.
  Quotations
  A plague a both the Houſes, I am sped: / Is he gone and hath nothing?
  c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i], page 64
4. (figurative) A grave nuisance, whatever greatly irritates.
  Quotations
  This is the first time a President has attended this dinner in six years. It's understandable- we had a horrible plague, followed by two years of COVID!
  2022 April 30, Joe Biden, 0:36 from the start, in President Biden complete remarks at 2022 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN)‎, Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN, archived from the original on 01 May 2022
5. (ornithology) A group of common grackles.
verb
third-person singular simple present plagues, present participle plaguing, simple past and past participle plagued
1. (transitive) To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
  Quotations
  "Moreover," replied Congreve, "it was a sort of flattery to the duke. It showed that she valued the power of plaguing him more than her own fairest ornament. Flattery is the real secret by which a woman keeps her lover."
  1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Chapter XXVI. Lady Marchmont to Sir Jasper Meredith.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 238
  [W]hat we have here, they believe, are two members of gangs that have been plaguing Islington for more than a year. They snatch smartphones from pedestrians, then sell the items on the black market.
  2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic‎, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, archived from the original on 14 June 2018
  Just as Mr. Clinton began a comeback with a down-home plea for forgiveness, Mrs. Clinton now seems determined to prove, perhaps to the point of overcompensation, that she will not repeat the mistakes that plagued her 2008 campaign.
  2015 April 15, Jonathan Martin, “For a Clinton, It’s Not Hard to Be Humble in an Effort to Regain Power”, in The New York Times‎
2. (transitive) To afflict with a disease or other calamity.

Definition of "plague"

plague

noun

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verb

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