plague (n.)

  1. a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal

    [ Syn: pestilence , pest , pestis ]

  2. any epidemic disease with a high death rate

    [ Syn: pestilence , pest ]

  3. a swarm of insects that attack plants; a plague of grasshoppers

    [ Syn: infestation ]

  4. any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)

  5. an annoyance; those children are a damn plague'

    plague (v.)

  1. cause to suffer a blight; Too much rain may blight the garden with mold

    [ Syn: blight ]

  2. annoy continually or chronically; He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked; This man harasses his female co-workers

    [ Syn: harass , hassle , harry , chivy , chivvy , chevy , chevvy , beset , molest , provoke ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.