plague · Contextualize

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.

derived from plāga
derived from plage
inherited from plage

Definitions

The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia…
The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
2
An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but especially that caused by the above…
An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but especially that caused by the above disease.
- Great plagues, such as the bubonic plague or smallpox or syphilis or influenza, can happen again.
3
A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine…
A widespread affliction, calamity, or destructive influx, especially when seen as divine retribution.
- 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?
›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  A grave nuisance, whatever greatly irritates.
  - Bart is an utter plague; his pranks never cease.
  - 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!
2. A group of common grackles.
3. 6
  To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
  - "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.
4. 7
  To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
  - Natural catastrophes plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland.
  - Falling prices and drought plagued the cattle industry.

The neighborhood

Derived

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 · +3 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at plague. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at plague. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at plague

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.