pestilence Hear it!

pestilence definition

pes·ti·lence (pes′tə ləns)

noun

  1. any virulent or fatal contagious or infectious disease, esp. one of epidemic proportions, as bubonic plague
  2. anything, as a doctrine, regarded as harmful or dangerous

Etymology: OFr < L pestilentia < pestilens: see pestilent

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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