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1. 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
   - plague, pest, pestis
    
2. Any epidemic disease with a high death rate
   - plague, pest
    
3. A pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of
   "racism is a pestilence at the heart of the nation";
   - canker

Derived forms: pestilences

Type of: epidemic disease, influence

Encyclopedia: Pestilence