# plague

Pronunciation: say "PLAYG" /pleɪɡ/

## Verb

1. To cause someone or something to suffer from a disease or some other calamity.
   - Simple: To make people or a place suffer from a disease or another disaster.
   - _Cholera and dysentery plagued the army throughout the winter campaign._
   - _Locust swarms still plague parts of East Africa after unusually heavy rains._
5. To annoy, pester, or harass someone persistently, giving them no peace.
   - Simple: To keep bothering or annoying someone again and again.
   - _Her younger brother plagued her all afternoon with questions until she finally agreed to take him to the pool._
   - _Doubts plague her every time she sends a new manuscript to her editor._

## Noun

2. An epidemic or pandemic of any deadly infectious disease, and in particular one of bubonic plague.
   - Simple: An outbreak of a deadly sickness that spreads to many people, especially bubonic plague.
   - _Historians trace the decline of several ancient cities to plagues that killed much of their population._
   - _Epidemiologists study how a plague moves from a single village to an entire continent._
3. A deadly infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, most often in its commonest form, bubonic plague.
   - Simple: A deadly disease caused by bacteria, most often in the form called bubonic plague.
   - _Fleas living on ship rats carried the plague through the port within a few weeks._
   - _A rancher who handled a dead prairie dog was treated with antibiotics for plague._
4. A widespread affliction or calamity, or a destructive influx of something, especially one seen as divine punishment.
   - Simple: A disaster that spreads widely, or a sudden rush of harmful things, often seen as God's punishment.
   - _That spring a plague of mice swept through the wheat fields, and the village preacher called it a judgment on the town._
   - _Opioid addiction has become a plague in many rural towns._
6. A person or thing that is a serious nuisance and causes great irritation.
   - Simple: A person or thing that is extremely annoying.
   - _The office printer is a daily plague, jamming whenever someone is in a hurry._
   - _Autocorrect is a plague for anyone with an unusual name, changing it every single time they type it._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A flock or other gathering of common grackles.

## Origin

Latin plāga (“blow, wound”), akin to plangō (“to strike”), passed into Old French as plage and from there into Middle English as plage. The word replaced native Old English wōl, and plaga is its doublet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/plague (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).