I. plague 1 /pleɪɡ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: plage , from Latin plaga 'hit, wound' ]
1 . [countable] a disease that causes death and spreads quickly to a large number of people:
drops in population levels due to plagues and famines
2 . [uncountable] ( also the plague ) a very infectious disease that produces high fever and swollen places on the body, and often leads to death, especially ↑ bubonic plague ⇨ Black Death :
The plague caused 100,000 deaths in London alone in the 1600s.
3 . a plague of rats/locusts etc an uncontrolled and harmful increase in the numbers of a particular animal or insect:
A plague of squirrels is threatening our forests.
⇨ avoid somebody/something like the plague at ↑ avoid (2)
II. plague 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . [usually passive] to cause pain, suffering, or trouble to someone, especially for a long period of time
be plagued by/with something
He was plagued by eye troubles.
Financial problems continued to plague the company.
2 . to annoy someone, especially by asking for something many times or asking them many questions
plague somebody with something
The kids have been plaguing me with questions.