plague

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.

noun

1. (often used with the, sometimes capitalized: the Plague) The bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis.
   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. 1722, Daniel Defoe, A Journal of the Plague Year
2. (pathology) An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but specifically by the above disease.
3. 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.
4. (figurative) 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! 30 April 2022, Joe Biden, 0:36 from the start, in President Biden complete remarks at 2022 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN), Washington, D.C.: C-SPAN, archived from the original on 2022-05-01
5. (ornithology) A group of common grackles.

verb

1. (transitive) To harass, pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly.
   [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. 2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2018-06-14
   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. 15 April 2015, Jonathan Martin, “For a Clinton, It’s Not Hard to Be Humble in an Effort to Regain Power”, in The New York Times
2. (transitive) To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
   Natural catastrophes plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland.