1. (

• plague ,
• pestilence ,
• pest ,
• pestis ,

) a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal ;

2. (

• plague ,
• pestilence ,
• pest

) any epidemic disease with a high death rate ;

3. (

• infestation ,
• plague

) a swarm of insects that attack plants; "a plague of grasshoppers" ;

4. (

• plague

) any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God) ;

5. (

• plague

) an annoyance; "those children are a damn plague" ;

1. (

• blight ,
• plague

) cause to suffer a blight; "Too much rain may blight the garden with mold" ;

2. (

• harass ,
• hassle ,
• harry ,
• chivy ,
• chivvy ,
• chevy ,
• chevvy ,
• beset ,
• plague ,
• molest ,
• provoke ,

) annoy continually or chronically; "He is known to harry his staff when he is overworked"; "This man harasses his female co-workers" ;