plaguing

Pluralplaguings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of plague.

   Injuries have been plaguing the team since the start of the season.

   Plaguing the neighbors with complaints won't get the fence fixed any faster.

   Note

   The final e of plague drops before -ing while the u stays, keeping the g hard: plaguing, not plagueing. As a participle it often follows be or keep, and its subjects tend to be troubles that will not go away, such as injuries plaguing a team or doubts that kept plaguing her. As a gerund it can open a sentence: plaguing the neighbors won't help.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of annoying or harassing someone.

   Despite the reporters' constant plaguing, the actor kept his private life to himself.

   She bore her brothers' plaguings about her accent with good humor.

   Similarharassment, pestering, badgering, teasing, hounding

   Note

   This noun can be counted, so a person may endure a whole run of plaguings, and constant is a natural partner. In a trail tale by Andy Adams, a ranch woman bears the constant plaguings of her brother on being a spinster: of names who does the teasing, and on names what it is about.

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