I. scourge 1 /skɜːdʒ $ skɜːrdʒ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Anglo-French ; Origin: escorge , from Old French escorgier 'to whip' , from Latin corrigia 'long thin piece of leather' ]
1 . something that causes a lot of harm or suffering
scourge of
the scourge of unemployment
the scourge of war
2 . a ↑ whip used to punish people in the past
II. scourge 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to cause a lot of harm or suffering to a place or group of people
2 . to hit someone with a whip as punishment in the past