plague

Meanings

• 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
• any epidemic disease with a high death rate
• a swarm of insects that attack plants
  • "a plague of grasshoppers"
• any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)
• an annoyance
  • "those children are a damn plague"
• cause to suffer a blight
• annoy continually or chronically

Synonyms

beset, blight, chevvy, chevy, chivvy, chivy, harass, harry, hassle, infestation, molest, pest, pestilence, pestis, provoke