plague

(plāg)

1. A widespread affliction or calamity, especially one seen as divine retribution.
2. A sudden destructive influx or injurious outbreak: a plague of locusts; a plague of accidents.
3. A cause of annoyance; a nuisance: “the plague of social jabbering” (George Santayana).
4. a. A highly infectious, usually fatal, epidemic disease; a pestilence.
   b. A highly fatal infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia (syn. Pasturella ) pestis, is transmitted primarily by the bite of a rat flea, and occurs in bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic forms.

1. To pester or annoy persistently or incessantly. See Synonyms at harass.
2. To afflict with or as if with a disease or calamity: “Runaway inflation further plagued the wage- or salary-earner” (Edwin O. Reischauer).

Related Forms:

• plaguˈer noun