plague
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: biology
medicine
natural-sciences
ornithology
pathology
sciences
Etymology: From Middle English plage, borrowed from Old French plage, from Latin plāga (“blow, wound”), from plangō (“to strike”). Cognate with Middle Dutch plāghe (> Dutch plaag), plāghen (> Dutch plagen); Middle Low German plāge; Middle High German plāge, pflāge (> German Plage); plāgen (> German plagen); Swedish plåga; French plaie, Occitan plaga. Doublet of plaga. Displaced native Old English wōl.
Inflected forms:
form: plagues
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: plagues
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: plaguing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: plagued
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: plagued
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
pos: noun
tags: capitalized
countable
often
sometimes
uncountable
examples: 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.
gloss: An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but especially that caused by the above disease.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Great plagues, such as the bubonic plague or smallpox or syphilis or influenza, can happen again.
gloss: A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Ten Biblical plagues over Egypt, ranging from locusts to the death of the crown prince, finally forced Pharaoh to let Moses's people go.
A plague a both the Houſes, I am sped: / Is he gone and hath nothing?
gloss: A grave nuisance, whatever greatly irritates.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
uncountable
examples: Bart is an utter plague; his pranks never cease.
"I'm not doing anything as far as that goes," admitted Tulloch. "In fact," he added ruefully, "that's the plague of it. I'm waiting to hear from a man who's waiting to hear from another man, and he's depending on something that may or mayn't, you understand."
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!
gloss: A group of common grackles.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: "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."
[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.
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.
gloss: To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Natural catastrophes plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland.
Falling prices and drought plagued the cattle industry.
Derived words: antiplague
Australian plague locust
avoid like the plague
be at the plague
beplague
bioplague
bird plague
Black Plague
bubonic plague
capacitor plague
cattle plague
fowl plague
gay plague
hog plague
Kansas horse plague
nonplague
Pahvant Valley plague
pig plague
plague bird
plague cross
plague doctor
plagueful
plagueless
plaguelike
plaguer
plague rat
plague-ridden
plague soldier beetle
plaguesome
plague spot
plague water
plaguey
plaguy
plaguish
pneumonic plague
purple plague
red plague
Siberian plague
stallion plague
superplague
the plague
white plague
plagued
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