1. Infect or infest with disease
   "Too much rain may plague the garden with mould";
   - blight
    
2. Cause persistent trouble, distress, or misery to; afflict or torment continuously
   "The scandal plagued the politician throughout his career";
   - blight
    
3. Annoy or hinder continually or in many ways
   "This man plagues his female co-workers";
   - harass, hassle [informal], harry, chivy [Brit], chivvy [Brit], chevy [Brit, archaic], chevvy [non-standard], beset, molest, provoke

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
   "The Black Death plague devastated medieval Europe";
   - pestilence, pest [archaic], pestis [rare]
    
2. Any epidemic disease with a high death rate
   "The Black Death plague devastated Europe in the 14th century";
   - pestilence, pest
    
3. A swarm of insects that attack plants
   "a plague of grasshoppers";
   - infestation
    
4. An annoyance
   "those children are a damn plague"
    
5. Something that causes widespread harm, destruction, or misery
   "Drug addiction is a plague on society";
   - blight

Derived forms: plaguing, plagues, plagued

Type of: afflict, annoy, annoyance, bother, botheration [informal], chafe [archaic], cloud, devil, epidemic disease, get at [informal], get to, gravel [US], infliction, irritate, irritation, nark [Brit, slang], nettle, nuisance, pain, pain in the neck [informal], rag, rile, roil [N. Amer], smite, swarm, tick off [informal], vex

Encyclopedia: Plague