plaguen.
/pleɪɡ/, U.S. /pleɪɡ/ 1. † a. A blow; (also) smiting, slaughter. Obsolete. in plague: at a stroke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow > specific on a person
buffet?c1225
flatc1320
boxc1330
rapc1330
plaguea1382
puncha1450
buffc1475
jowl?1516
beff1768
funk1790
fib1814
cob1828
one1876
biff1889
clump1889
one in the eye1891
conk1898
fourpenny one1936
a sock in the eye1972
kennedy-
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Isa. xiv. 6 Þe lord to-broside þe staf of vnpitous men..betinge puplis of indignacioun with an vn-helehable plage [a1425 L.V. vncurable wounde; L. plaga insanabili].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) 1 Macc. viii. 4 Thei braken to gydre and smyten hem with gret plage.
a1425 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Christ Church Oxf.) Ezek. xxiv. 16 Lo, I take fro þee þe desirable thing of þin eȝen in plage [a1425 L.V. veniaunce; gloss or wounde, L. in plaga, 1611 with a stroke].
1538 R. Pole in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) I. App. lxxxiii. 208 You say, I make many plagues, but lay little or no salve to heal them..In very deed I make never a plage, when I discover those that be made already.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Deut. xvii. 8 Betweene plea and plea, between plague and plague.
b. A wound, a sore; a boil. Now Caribbean.In quot. ?1440: a grafting cut.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > wound
woundc900
soreOE
dolk?c1225
hurt?c1225
unsoundc1275
brokec1350
plaguea1382
lesurec1420
plaiea1470
blechure1483
wounding1581
bloodwipe1611
injurya1616
seat1634
trauma1684
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xiii. 2 A man in whas skyn & flesch were sprongyn diuerse colour or bleyne..þat is to sey, a plage [v.r. plaage; a1425 L.V. wounde; L. plaga] of lepre, he shal be brouȝt forþ to aaron.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 31 Plage comounly is taken for an oold wounde.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 50v Haly Abbas..haldeþ wonde and plage [?c1425 Paris vulnus and plagam] þe same.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii.396 (MED) Euery graffing wol comprende, Vntempered lime yf with the graffes be Putte in the plages ther they sal descende.
1955 F. A. Collymore Notes for Gloss. Barbadian Dial. 54 I have a pleg on my ankle.
2. A particular affliction, calamity, or evil, esp. one interpreted as a sign of divine anger or justice, or as divine punishment or retribution (usually with reference to the ten plagues of Egypt described in Exodus chapters 7 to 12).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > [noun] > divine
visitationc1380
plaguea1382
flaw1481
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > a harmful thing or person > thing
thornc1230
plaguea1382
foea1393
evila1400
flaw1481
detriment?1504
tooth1546
fang1555
decay1563
bane1577
dagger1600
scourge1603
cursea1616
blighter1821
bacillus1883
the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > activities of god(s) > punishment
onsandeOE
stroke1340
plaguea1382
curse1382
judgementa1400
stripe1564
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xii. 17 Þe Lord forsoþ skourgyd pharao with most plages [v.r. wondis; a1425 L.V. veniaunces; L. plagis] & þe house of hym for Sarai abram wyif.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Royal) Apoc. ix. 18 Of thes thre plagis, or woundis [v.r. veniaunce], the thridde paart of men is slayn, of fijr and of smoke and of brunston.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 66 (MED) Our Lord sent such weddur þat stroyed all þe vynys þat langed vnto þe abbay..&..a knyght..sett fyre in þer lathis & burnyd up all þer warn-store at þai had of corn; And þan þe plage cesid.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 329 (MED) Egipte was smyten with x plages and diseases [a1387 J. Trevisa tr. ten grete wreches; L. decem plagis].
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. viii. 23 As the bub or plaig of fell tempest,..Drivis by fors throw the sey to the land.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Exod. ix. 14 Let my people go,..els wyll I at this tyme sende all my plages..vpon thy people.
a1554 J. Croke tr. Thirteen Psalms (1844) xci. 43 From all plags safe thy house shalbe.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 137 If thou dost marry, Ile giue thee This plague to thy dowry.
1693 J. Dennis Miscellanies 76 For if in such you'l needs be doing, Twill prove your Plague, if not your Ruine.
1707 ‘Madam B[ran]le’ (title) The fifteen plagues of a maidenhead.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 346 The inhabitants turn what seems a plague to their own advantage. Locusts are eaten.
1830 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia Chovy, a small coleopterous insect, which invades gardens and orchards in hot summers, in our sandy districts..in such swarms as to be nearly equal to a plague of locusts.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 216 The plague of the brass money.
1877 Queen Victoria Highland Jrnls. 15 Sept. (1908) ii. 200 There is a perfect plague of wasps, and we are obliged to have gauze nailed down to keep these insects out.
1939 Z. N. Hurston Moses xv. 146 He drove off a wandering band of vagrants with a plague of snakes.
1983 A. M. Klein Prophet in Our Midst in M. Waddington Canad. Jewish Short Stories (1990) 23 Our days were spent in calculation of plagues; the Rebbe proved that if the ten plagues were a finger of God, fifty plagues must have been inflicted on the Egyptians when He lifted His right hand.
3. † a. A sporadic disease or disorder, esp. of a specified kind. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun]
soreOE
cothec1000
sicknessc1000
evilc1275
maladyc1275
grievance1377
passiona1382
infirmityc1384
mischiefa1387
affectiona1398
grievinga1398
grief1398
sicka1400
case?a1425
plaguec1425
diseasea1475
alteration1533
craze1534
uncome1538
impediment1542
affliction?1555
ailment1606
disaster1614
garget1615
morbus1630
ail1648
disaffect1683
disorder1690
illness1692
trouble1726
complaint1727
skookum1838
claim1898
itis1909
bug1918
wog1925
crud1932
bot1937
lurgy1947
Korean haemorrhagic fever1951
nadger1956
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 1 (MED) Of the ploge of fistula in ano, and of þe manere of þe leche, and of instrumentis necessary for þe fistule.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Mark v. f. iv She felt in her body, that she was healed off the plage.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xiii. 3 The Priest shall looke on the plague in the skinne of the flesh: and when the haire in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper then the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosie. View more context for this quotation
1672 J. Josselyn New-Englands Rarities 3 That sad Disease called there the Plague of the Back, but with us Empiema.
1748 tr. Vegetius Of Distempers Horses 241 What the Country People call Hide-Binding is a mischievous Plague to Cattle of the Ox-kind.
1886 G. Farini Through Kalahari Desert 64 The Lung ziekt, or lung-sickness, and then the steuve ziekt, or stiff-sickness—the latter a very curious plague,..appeared only a few years ago.
b. Any infectious disease which spreads rapidly and has a high mortality rate; an epidemic of such a disease.In early use difficult to distinguish from sense 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > plague or pestilence > [noun]
manqualmeOE
deathOE
starveOE
woundc1369
pestilencea1382
murraina1387
mortality?a1425
plaguea1475
pest1479
cladec1480
traik1513
mortalness1530
pestility1570
a1475 Bk. Quinte Essence (1889) 24 Þese plagis of pestilence þat ben vncurable.
a1500 ( Vision E. Leversedge in Notes & Queries Somerset & Dorset (1905) 9 23 (MED) I..by the hand and vysytacyon of almyghty God was smyton with the plage of pestylence.
1552 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16279) Letanye sig. .viiv In the tyme of any common plague or Sickenes.
1569 E. Fenton tr. P. Boaistuau Certaine Secrete Wonders Nature f. 65 This corruption [sc. poisoning the wells] engendred such contagious diseases..that there died wel nigh the thirde person..: for this plague passing sodainly from citie to citie, by the contagiousnesse therof destroyed and smoothered al things bearing life.
1598 G. Chapman tr. Homer Seauen Bks. Iliades i. 3 Atrides, some new error now, procures this plague I feare, To driue vs hence, if with our liues we may th'impulsions beare Of this our double pestilence, th'infection and our warre.
1601 J. Sanderson Travels (1931) 49 I doe beleeve also that... The plague comming into some of their orchards of date trees, that one infects another, and many doe dye of the plague.
1668 Duchess of Newcastle Grounds Nat. Philos. (ed. 2) x. ii. 132 The truth is, the Spotted Plague is a Gangrene, but is somewhat different from other sorts of Gangren's; for this begins amongst the Vital Parts, and, by an Infection, spreads to the Extream Parts.; and not only so, but to Forrein Parts; which makes not only a general Infection amongst all the several Parts of the Body, but the Infection spreads it self to other Bodies.
1683 W. Salmon Doron Medicum i. i. 3/2 Betonica,..is a Woundherb... The Essence is good against the Falling-sickness, Palsie,..Poyson, Plague,..Frensie, Madness.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 117 From the vicious Air, and sickly Skies, A Plague did on the dumb Creation rise. View more context for this quotation
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) xci. v Nor to thy healthful Dwelling shall Any infectious Plague draw nigh.
1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 17 338 Instructions how to communicate and to treat this plague [sc. small-pox].
1865 Times 14 Aug. 12/6 The importance of steps being taken in Glocester [sic], where so many railways converge, to prevent the spread of the cattle plague.
1887 T. F. Tout in Dict. National Biogr. IX. 414/1 The ‘yellow plague’ which was then [an. 664] devastating Northumbria.
1963 M. L. King Strength to Love xv. 127 I am told of your great medical advances and the curing of many dread plagues and diseases.
1993 W. Baldwin Hard to catch Mercy xiii. 413 The plague of fever had now spread north of Crowns Bluff, and the doctor, perhaps worried by the threat of an approaching epidemic, was unusually disturbed.
2001 Avian Dis. 45 522 An outbreak of duck viral enteritis (duck plague) in domestic Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata domesticus) in Illinois.
c. spec. An infectious disease characterized by high fever, initial involvement usually of lymph nodes or the lungs, haemorrhage, and shock, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, chiefly transmitted to humans from rodents (or other mammals) by fleas, and occurring as isolated cases, small outbreaks, and major pandemics; an outbreak or occurrence of this. Frequently in the plague. Cf. pest n. 1, pestilence n. 1.In early use difficult to distinguish from sense 3b.There are two main forms of the disease in humans: bubonic plague, in which buboes are formed, usually in the inguinal lymph nodes (see bubonic adj.1 and n.), and pneumonic plague, in which there is primary involvement of the lungs (see pneumonic adj. 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > plague or pestilence > [noun] > bubonic plague
pestilencea1382
plague1522
cannikin1612
black plague1626
Black Death1755
bubonic plague1803
bubo plague1833
bubonic1901
1522 R. Langton Pilgrimage (1924) 29 The ymage of our lady that was sene wepynge..whan the plage reygned at Venyce.
1546 Rep. Commissioners 221 In tyme of syknes, as the plage and suche lyke dysseses dothe Chaunce w[i]t[h]in the seyde Towne, than alle suche infectyue persons, w[i]t[h] many other ympotent and pore peaple, dothe to the seyd Chapelle resort ffor there dyuyne seruyce.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Comm. This sommer the rage of [th]e plague made a great slaughter at Paris.
1639 J. Woodall Treat. Plague in Surgeons Mate (rev. ed.) 323 The Plague is a disease venemous and contagious.
1645 J. Caryl Expos. Job (1676) I. 635 And it is a common speech with us, when a house hath the Plague, which is one of the highest stroaks of temporal affliction, we use to say, Such a house is visited.
1665 S. Pepys Diary 22 July (1972) VI. 165 His servant died of a Bubo on his right groine, and two Spots on his right thigh, which is the plague.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 1 It was about the Beginning of September 1664, that I..heard..that the Plague was return'd again in Holland.
1734 J. Vanderlint Money answers All Things 37 People increased..so as to double themselves in London in 40 years, notwithstanding the last great Plague.
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 1 411 No nation was ever long engaged in a war with the Turks without taking the plague.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 61 Some Muslims even shut themselves up during the prevalence of plague.
1876 J. S. Bristowe Treat. Theory & Pract. Med. ii. i. 188 Plague. (Pestilentia.)..A contagious fever, closely resembling typhus in its symptoms, but distinguished from it by the absence of any true rash, and by the development of buboes and carbuncles.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xiii. 292 The rat-flea in India is the disseminator of the plague when it bites man after having sucked the blood of a rat infected with the plague bacillus (Bacillus pestis).
1994 Times 1 Oct. 1/3 Doctors in Britain yesterday examined eight people suspected of having the plague. All were later found to have influenza.
d. to avoid (also shun, etc.) like the plague, etc.: to avoid at all costs, to shun completely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun > have nothing to do with
to avoid (also shun, etc.) like the plague1699
to steer clear of1723
I wouldn't touch it (also him, her, etc.) with a ten-foot (also forty-foot) pole1838
to have no truck with1866
to leave or let severely alone1880
I wouldn't touch him (or it) with (the end of) a bargepole1890
ice1932
1699 W. Penn Some Fruits of Solitude (ed. 5) §257. 82 An able bad Man, is an ill Instrument, and to be shunn'd as the Plague.
1703 M. Chudleigh Poems Several Occasions 82 Those Ills we court, which we as Plagues shou'd shun.
1835 T. Moore in Ld. Byron Wks. XV. 133 Saint Augustine..avoided the school as the plague.
1896 A. R. White Youth's Educator xi. 130 Young ladies would shun slang phrases as they would the plague.
1936 ‘N. Blake’ Thou Shell of Death xv. 283 O'Brien was the sort of person you'd think would avoid road-houses like the plague.
1955 F. Lane Patrol to Kimberleys 85 There was some ruddy hard-doers in the lot-blokes who shunned work like it was the plague.
2003 Muscle & Fitness Jan. 112/2 Burgers, fries, pizza... You know what to avoid like the plague.
4. In extended use.
a. A person, animal, or plant whose presence, behaviour, or activities are damaging, troublesome, or (in weakened use) merely irritating; a large number of particular people, animals, or plants seen as a threat, or as a cause of trouble.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > harmful person > [noun]
scatheOE
plaguea1450
wounder1483
pestilenta1530
harmer1583
wronger1591
griever1598
injurier1598
injurer1611
nuisancer1769
vitriolizer1882
menace1936
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [noun] > a harmful thing or person > pestilential
starveOE
starvec1225
plaguea1450
pestilenta1530
mischief1586
nuisancer1769
Typhoid Mary1913
menace1936
a1450 Rev. Methodius in J. Trevisa Dialogus Militem et Clericum (1925) 108 (MED) Folkes sal cum oute with Gog & Magog, & al erthe sal be strykkyn for drede of þaim..þai ar of þe kynryden of Japhet; & a plage sal go oute of þe north; And þai ete þe flesche of men.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1876) VI. 279 (MED) We wylle not diffyne wheþer hit [sc. a portent] come..for the correcion of men in Ynglonde, that thei scholde drede the plage of Danes to come.
1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Cvii That one couetous and vnsatiable cormaraunte and verye plage of his natyue contrey.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries 77 Speakynge here..of the Cardinall of Yorke, he calleth hym the plage of Englande.
1582 G. Whetstone Heptameron Ciuill Disc. sig. Fiijv He became odious vnto his freends, that beheld his lewde inclination: and a plague vnto his Wife.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 103 This flying Plague (to mark its quality;) Oestros the Grecians call: Asylus, we. View more context for this quotation
1706 tr. J. B. Morvan de Bellegarde Refl. upon Ridicule 377 What a Plague to Society is a Man who has written a Book.
1787 J. Byng Diary 5 Aug. in Torrington Diaries (1934) I. 296 The little plagues of last night had gone off in their coach.
1807 A. Young Gen. View Agric. Essex II. vii. 87 Hogweed—Polygonum aviculare..this weed is a great plague on the bean stubbles.
1813 H. Cowley More Ways than One i. i. 3 Did you tell my young plague, Miss Archer, to come to me?
1881 ‘Rita’ My Lady Coquette I. ii. 20 Arthur, you plague, why don't you find something to do?
1899 Daily Chron. 10 Mar. 3/4 The crowd of half-starved immigrants, consisting of street hawkers and schnorrers, who are the plague of the Jewish Board of Guardians.
1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse ii. 28 Mosquitoes which for twenty years were the plague of our little Eden.
1991 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. i. 18/3 A new arrival is a plague of ribbed jellyfish, a recent intruder that is found on the Atlantic coast of North America and probably arrived here in bilge water.
b. Something which causes constant, incessant, or overwhelming trouble or annoyance; (in weakened use) trouble, nuisance, difficulty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > [noun] > cause of annoyance or vexation
thornc1230
dreicha1275
painc1375
cumbrance1377
diseasec1386
a hair in one's necka1450
molestationc1460
incommodity?a1475
melancholya1475
ensoigne1477
annoyance1502
traik1513
incommode1518
corsie1548
eyesore1548
fashery1558
cross1573
spite1577
corrosive1578
wasp1588
cumber1589
infliction1590
gall1591
distaste1602
plague1604
rub1642
disaccommodation1645
disgust1654
annoyment1659
bogle1663
rubber1699
noyancea1715
chagrins1716
ruffle1718
fasha1796
nuisance1814
vex1815
drag1857
bugbear1880
nark1918
pain in the neck (also arse, bum, etc.)1933
sod1940
chizz1953
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies v. xxv. 400 In the province of Chiquito, even at this day they meete with this plague [Sp. pestilencia] of Confessors or Ychuris.
1639 A. F. Leach in Victoria County Hist.: Buckinghamshire (1908) II. 195 Here lies the first author of this saying—‘The itch of disputation is the plague of the church’.
1684 T. Creech tr. Theocritus Idylliums 7 The Sun hath told, I fall, but still shall prove Midst shades below a deadly plague to Love.
a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) II. 287 In some parts of Ireland..the plague of systematical Physic has not yet penetrated.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xvii. 181 She has her plagues in giving me plague.
c1825 Houlston Juvenile Tracts No. 18. Imag. Troubles 9 She disliked stiles, she found it such a plague to get over them.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. ix. 130 The plague of the thing is, nobody could drive a carriage there to-night but me.
1963 Connecticut Hist. Soc. Jan. 3 Ahead too, lay the plague of all voyages to the Pacific—boredom, with no place to go, no change in companionship, and nothing to do.
1993 M. Angelou Wouldn't take Nothing for my Journey Now 121 The plague of racism is insidious.
5. In various imprecations or exclamations, as a plague take——, a plague on——; what the plague——, etc.In recent use, often quoting or echoing Romeo & Juliet (quot. a1616).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations
woeOE
dahetc1290
confoundc1330
foul (also shame) fall ——c1330
sorrow on——c1330
in the wanianda1352
wildfirea1375
evil theedomc1386
a pestilence on (also upon)c1390
woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390
maldathaita1400
murrainc1400
out ona1415
in the wild waning worldc1485
vengeance?a1500
in a wanion1549
with a wanion1549
woe worth1553
a plague on——a1566
with a wanion to?c1570
with a wanyand1570
bot1584
maugre1590
poxa1592
death1593
rot1594
rot on1595
cancro1597
pax1604
pize on (also upon)1605
vild1605
peascod1606
cargo1607
confusion1608
perditiona1616
(a) pest upon1632
deuce1651
stap my vitals1697
strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697
stop my vitals1699
split me (or my windpipe)1700
rabbit1701
consume1756
capot me!1760
nick me!1760
weary set1788
rats1816
bad cess to1859
curse1885
hanged1887
buggeration1964
a1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) sig. Hiij A plague take Damon and Pithias.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. ii. 37 What a plague meane ye to colt me thus? View more context for this quotation
1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. G2 Nay by the masse, we hadde tickling cheere Sibil, and how the plague dost thou and mistris Rose, and my L. Mayor?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet (1623) iii. i. 91 Help me..Or I shall faint: a plague a both your houses [1599 a both houses].
1637 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Britain 412 Now the Plague & the Poxe light on such a device.
1682 J. Dryden in T. Southerne Loyal Brother Prol. sig. A3 Both pretend love, and both (Plague rot 'em) hate.
1713 A. Pope Narr. Robert Norris 17 Plague on't! I am damnably afraid..he is mad in earnest.
1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man iv. 49 What the plague do you send me of your fool's errand for?
1798 J. S. Murray Virtue Triumphant ii. ii, in Gleaner III. 36 Here you, Molly, William! Where the plague are you both?
1836 J. M. Wilson Tales II. 162 What the plague's been the matter the nicht?
1870 tr. E. Erckmann & P. A. Chatrian Waterloo Blockade Phalsburg in C. Gibbon Casquet of Lit. 116 There he is come back worse than ever—plague on him.
1888 W. E. Gladstone Diary 6 Feb. (1994) XII. 97 Acton framed for me a sentiment for the Grand Duchess's Book! Plague on all such books.
1932 R. Macaulay They were Defeated i. vi. 41 She was brought to bed of a bastard while I was there, and plague take it if one of Mr. Dell's jackals didn't come prowling around.
1991 World Press Rev. July 17/1 When horror becomes pornographic, it is but a short step to switching channels and thinking: a plague on all their houses.
Compounds
C1. Chiefly in sense 3c.
a. General attributive, as plague infection, plague patient, plague time, plague year, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > time of
stoundOE
SeptuagesimaOE
winterc1425
plague time1549
plague year1549
stour1579
Winter of the Rals1846
locust years1948
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Visitacion of Sicke f. xxii* Specially in the plague tyme.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie ii. viii. 41 That in the plague time no shippe..do enter into their port.
1604 Meeting of Gallants sig. B2v He that would haue braude it..might haue made a Sute of Sattin cheaper in the Plague-time, then a Sute of Marry-muffe in the Tearme-time.
1637 Bp. J. Hall Serm. Excester 7 in Remedy Prophanenesse So dealing with infidels, & idolaters, as we would doe with the plague-sick, talk with them at a distance.
1644 E. Davies From Lady Eleanor, her Blessing A3v Also shewed in that great plague yeere, when the City shut up.
1697 E. Freke Diary 15 Sept. in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1911) 17 55 I fell downe quite sicke..of A. Malignant Feaver, called by the Name of the Plague Feaver.
1722 D. Defoe (title) A journal of the plague year.
1841 W. H. Ainsworth Old St. Pauls II. 154 A closed litter,..evidently containing a plague-patient.
1852 H. W. Dulcken tr. I. L. Pfeiffer Visit Holy Land, Egypt, & Italy xix. 290 If this misfortune had happened to me in the East..while I was in quarantine..who knows whether I should not have been looked upon as having a ‘plague-boil’, and shut up for forty days?
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch I. xvi. 289 Evangelicalism had cast a certain suspicion as of plague-infection over the few amusements which survived in the provinces.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 28 Oct. 4/2 A plague officer,..while on plague duty, has been stoned to death at Hindupur.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiv. [Oxen of the Sun] 367 Sweating chambers, plaguegraves.
1948 G. H. Johnston Death takes Small Bites iv. 81 If you've never had a plague shot and you've been here for five hours you might have contracted the disease.
1991 Notes & Rec. Royal Soc. 45 3 Dr Lewis had obtained the licence of the College of Physicians in London, and in 1641 he made proposals for plague-doctors in the capital.
b. In adjectives (usually with hyphen and past participle), as plague-infected, plague-ridden, plague-stricken, etc.
ΚΠ
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus iv. ii. 1699 A plague stuffed Cloake-bagge of all iniquitie.
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 34/2 Nor Sword, nor Famine, nor Plague-poisoning Air.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 265 The People of London thought themselves so Plague-free now, that they were past all Admonitions.
1797 C. Smith Forest Boy in Elegiac Sonnets & other Poems II. 65 With the brave numerous dead He has fall'n on the plague-tainted shore.
1844 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit xxxiii. 394 As in a plague-beleaguered town.
1852 H. W. Dulcken tr. I. L. Pfeiffer Visit Holy Land, Egypt, & Italy xii. 195 This was the first plague-stricken person I had seen... I could see no trace of the terrible disease, except a yellow appearance of the face.
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Sept. 4/1 A plague-proof variety has alone survived.
1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting & Other Poems 27 Bring morning to blossom again Out of plague-ridden night.
1951 L. E. H. Whitby & M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 5) xviii. 303 Search for plague-infected rats is therefore an important part of public health work in ports and endemic areas.
1994 N.Y. Times 27 Sept. c4/6 Federal health officials advise the veterinarians to wear gloves and eye protection and masks when examining sick cats in plague-endemic areas.
C2. † plague-corpuscle n. Obsolete the pathogen causing plague; the plague bacillus.
plague bacillus n. the bacterium Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative ovoid organism of the family Enterobacteriaceae which is the causative agent of plague.
ΚΠ
1894 Lancet 4 Aug. 270/1 Dr. Kitasato has discovered and described a specific plague bacillus.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xiii. 292 The rat-flea..bites man after having sucked the blood of a rat infected with the plague bacillus.
2000 Pop. Sci. Dec. 34/2 These unusual weather patterns allowed Yersinia pestis, the plague bacillus, to steamroll across Europe and the Middle East.
plague bill n. now historical an official return or report of the deaths caused by the plague in a district.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > death roll > of deaths due to the plague
plague bill1596
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. O2 He did for him that eloquant post-script for the Plague Bills, where he talkes of the series the classes, & the premisses, & presenting them with an exacter methode hereafter, if it please God the Plague continue.
1611 L. Barry Ram-Alley iv. i I dare not walke the streets, For I dwindle at a Sargeant in buffe Almost as much as a new Player does At a plague bill certified forty.
1858 J. Munsell Every Day Bk. Hist. & Chronol. 298/2 1625. The week's plague bill in London returns 2,471.
1891 C. Creighton Hist. Epidemics Brit. 295 There are two other plague-bills extant, for August 1535.
1995 Washington Post (Nexis) 24 Feb. Rats ran everywhere, and the bacilli their fleas carried kept the reservoir of disease brimming. Broadside plague bills were preprinted by the authorities, with blanks to be filled in.
plague cake n. now historical an amulet worn as a protection against the plague.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > occult medicine > amulet against disease or to aid healing > specific
plague cake1603
wresting thread1616
ague spell1714
touched gold1715
1603 P. Turner (title) The opinion of Peter Turner, Doct. in Physicke, concerning amulets, or plague cakes.
1604 F. Herring Modest Def. Caueat 1 Empoisoned Amulets, or Plague-cakes (as they are called).
1936 H. Craig Enchanted Glass iv. 104 Peter..was a physician of eminence who wrote a book (1603) against the use of amulets (known as ‘plague cakes’).
ΚΠ
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. xi. 306 The plague-corpuscles..might also be germinal in the worm, and still baffle the microscope.
1881 J. Tyndall Ess. Floating Matter of Air 12 Pasteur proved that the plague-corpuscles might be incipient in the egg.
plague flea n. any of various rodent fleas which transmit the plague bacterium; esp. the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Siphonaptera or fleas > [noun] > member of (flea) > that transmits plague bacillus
plague flea1907
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Siphonaptera or fleas > [noun] > family Ceratophyllidae > member of (rat flea)
rat flea1872
plague flea1907
1907 Lancet 12 Jan. 108/1 (heading) The plague flea and its destruction.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 11 Jan. 2/1 Is it generally known that the plague-flea lives on the small brown rat?
1936 Discovery Feb. 41/1 The plague flea..still persists at most of our ports on the black or ship-rat.
1990 Med. & Vet. Entomol. 4 95/1 This alarming situation raises the need for alternative insecticides, e.g. carbamates..or pyrethroids and other control methods..for use against plague fleas and their commensal rodent hosts in India.
plague house n. now archaic and historical a house marked as having inmates infected with the plague.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > plague or pestilence > [noun] > place infected with
plague house1665
plague spot1861
1665 S. Pepys Diary 28 June (1972) VI. 141 Observing several plague-houses in Kings-street.
1729 W. Nelson Office & Authority of Justice of Peace 195 He [sc. the Constable] may command any Person infected to keep within his Plague House; and if after such Command he willfully go abroad, having a Sore upon him, 'tis Felony.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. xv. 282 How long have I..shunned it like a great plague-house!
2003 Brockville (Ont.) Recorder & Times (Nexis) 17 June a6 SARS..turned Toronto into the travellers' equivalent of a plague house.
plague mark n. now archaic and historical = plague spot n. 1; also figurative.
ΚΠ
a1691 R. Baxter Wks. (1707) 196 Pride is as a plague-mark on the soul.
a1750 A. Hill Rom. Revenge (1753) 107 Thou first Plague Mark,—on Angel, Man, and Devil!
1865 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Plague-mark, a plague-spot.
1997 J. Kazantzis Swimming through Grand Hotel 60 Do you remember your grandfather the crusader? How he tagged his plague mark to the floating Dome of the Mount, this turquoise boil he nobly comes to lance, riding and riding to holy Jerusalem.
plague pipe n. historical a small clay pipe which was smoked as a remedy during the Great Plague of 1665.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > pipe > other types of pipe
calumet1717
pillow pipe1752
meerschaum1799
corn-cob pipe1832
bulldog1885
plague pipe1892
Peterson1906
shell-briar1972
1892 Daily News 30 May 3/1 The small ‘plague’, or ‘elfin’ pipes, as they are variously called, of the time of the Restoration.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 22 May 8/2 Some ‘Plague pipes’, so called owing to their being smoked at the time of the great Plague of London, were excavated at Hackney yesterday.
1973 Times 11 Aug. 9/6 About the clay pipes he had virtually a fetish. He called them ‘plague pipes’ and it was believed that some of them had been used for smoking coltsfoot, yarrow and mouse-ear.
plague pit n. historical a deep pit for the common burial of plague victims; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > grave or burial-place > [noun] > common grave
polyandrionc1612
polyandruma1661
plague pit1841
mass grave1895
1841 W. H. Ainsworth Old St. Pauls I. 300 In Finsbury fields..plague-pits had been digged and pest-houses erected.
1949 E. Blunden After Bombing 32 Few indeed Prefer the barbed wire and the ravaged town, The plague-pit where themselves and myriads bleed, To the moon rising over the dreaming down.
2004 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 21 Mar. 68 There is no Tube stop at Muswell Hill..because this pretty villagey bit of London is actually built over a plague pit.
plague rat n. a rat or rat species by which plague is spread.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) > [noun] > family Muridae > genus Rattus (rat) > particular characteristics or habitat
land-rat1600
river rat1709
plague rat1768
cave-rat1859
super-rat1916
1768 P. Lock Exmoor Scolding 15 Oh! a Plague rat tha!—Ya mulligrub Gurgin!
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 791/1 Plague-rats have rarely been found in ships sailing from infected ports.
2003 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 15 May 9 a Most Republicans view the arts endowment as they might a swarm of bubonic plague rats.
plague saint n. a saint especially invoked in times of plague.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > saint > [noun] > invoked by those with plague
plague saint1898
1898 Daily News 1 June 3/6 Venice is..saved by the intercession of her patron, St. Mark, her local plague-saints, Sebastian and Rocco.
2001 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 30 Sept. 1 And so we come to ‘the war saints’ (George and Theodore) and ‘the plague saints’ (Sebastian, Roch and Job).
plague-stripe n. = plague spot n. 1a (now historical); also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > scar > of plague or smallpox
pitOE
pock frecken1530
God's marks1531
pock hole1552
pitting1593
pock-arr1611
pockmarka1646
pock-fret1652
plague-stripe1714
1714 C. J. Sprengnell in Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal Soc.) 28 124 Vibices, or Plague-Stripes, were infallible Signs of Death.
1925 Times 11 June 17/6 Moles hunt only half-buried..and burying-beetles marked with yellow plague-stripes cover their carrion quickly.
plague-water n. now historical an infusion of various herbs and roots in alcohol, taken as a remedy against the plague.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations treating or preventing specific ailments > [noun] > for the plague > infusions
plague-water1639
Marseilles vinegar1781
thieves' vinegar1802
1639 Distiller of London 18 Aq. Pestifuga, Plague water.
1665 S. Pepys Diary 20 July (1972) VI. 163 My Lady Carteret did this day give me a bottle of plague-water home with me.
1736 Compl. Family-piece i. i. 24 Take..Plague-water and Aqua Mirabilis.
1851 Internat. Mag. Lit., Art, & Sci. July 480/2 There sneaked in the Doctor to get his glass of eau de vie, or plague water, or aqua mirabilis, or strong spirits.
2000 Canberra Times (Austral.) (Nexis) 27 Feb. a28 The recipe for ‘plague-water’ calls for 20 roots, 17 flowers, 19 different kinds of seeds, together with spices and green walnuts, all chopped up and steeped in the lees of wine before being distilled in three runs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
plaguev.
/pleɪɡ/, U.S. /pleɪɡ/ 1. transitive. To afflict (a person, community, country, etc.) with a plague, or with a difficulty or misfortune as if with a plague; to visit calamity or misfortune on (a person, etc.), esp. as a punishment or expression of displeasure.In quots. 1545, a1563, perhaps more literally in the sense of ‘to strike’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > [verb (transitive)] > punish
curse1382
strikec1480
plague1481
society > authority > punishment > [verb (transitive)] > inflict divine punishment
plague1481
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 66 I shold do grete synne..I am aferde god sholde plaghe me [Du. Ick hebbe anxt god die soude mi plaghen].
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xv. 4 I will scatre them aboute also in all kingdomes and londes to be plaged.
1545 Primer Kynges Maiestie (STC 16034) sig. CC.ivv I am al to plaged and beaten.
a1563 J. Bale Brefe Comedy Iohan Baptystes in Harleian Misc. (1744) I. 111 Though he to thys daye, hath plaged man with the rod.
1567 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 571 The cornis of this instant yeir..being at Goddis plesour plagit and spilt with weit.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 539 This Countrey..plagued with three bad neighbours, viz. the Turkes, the Tartars, and the Cassoks.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 505 Some one..inspir'd With dev'lish machination might devise Like instrument to plague the Sons of men For sin. View more context for this quotation
a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) VI. 325 They were the Sins and Apostasies of their Souls, for the Reformation of which he plagued them.
1750 Bible (Challoner) Exod. x. 2 And thou mayst tell in the ears of thy sons, and of thy grandsons, how often I have plagued the Egyptians,..and you may know that I am the Lord.
1764 J. Otis Rights Brit. Colonies 10 Every devil incarnate, who could enslave a people, acquired a title to divinity; and thus the ‘rabble of the skies’ was made up of locusts and caterpillars,..and other devourers translated from plaguing the earth!
1787 J. Bentham Def. Usury x. 98 Christians were too intent on plaguing Jews.
1862 E. M. Goulburn Thoughts Personal Relig. I. i. ii. 26 A constitution plagued with sickness.
1965 J. A. Michener Source (1967) 415 During his reign no bandits and no extremists have plagued our land.
1996 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 8 July b6 This 90-minute work, which is a sort of holistic oratorio, is vaguely about everything—all ills that plague the earth.
2. In weakened use.
a. transitive. To trouble, tease, bother, annoy, or pester, usually repeatedly, insistently, or constantly; to constitute a nuisance, threat, or danger to. Frequently in passive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > be annoyed or vexed by [verb (transitive)] > annoy or vex
gremec893
dretchc900
awhenec1000
teenOE
fretc1290
annoyc1300
atrayc1320
encumberc1330
diseasec1340
grindc1350
distemperc1386
offenda1387
arra1400
avexa1400
derea1400
miscomforta1400
angerc1400
engrievec1400
vex1418
molesta1425
entrouble?1435
destroublea1450
poina1450
rubc1450
to wring (a person) on the mailsc1450
disprofit1483
agrea1492
trouble1515
grig1553
mis-set?1553
nip?1553
grate1555
gripe1559
spitec1563
fike?1572
gall1573
corsie1574
corrosive1581
touch1581
disaccommodate1586
macerate1588
perplex1590
thorn1592
exulcerate1593
plague1595
incommode1598
affret1600
brier1601
to gall or tread on (one's) kibes1603
discommodate1606
incommodate1611
to grate on or upon1631
disincommodate1635
shog1636
ulcerate1647
incommodiate1650
to put (a person) out of his (her, etc.) way1653
discommodiate1654
discommode1657
ruffle1659
regrate1661
disoblige1668
torment1718
pesta1729
chagrin1734
pingle1740
bothera1745
potter1747
wherrit1762
to tweak the nose of1784
to play up1803
tout1808
rasp1810
outrage1818
worrit1818
werrit1825
buggerlug1850
taigle1865
get1867
to give a person the pip1881
to get across ——1888
nark1888
eat1893
to twist the tail1895
dudgeon1906
to tweak the tail of1909
sore1929
to put up1930
wouldn't it rip you!1941
sheg1943
to dick around1944
cheese1946
to pee off1946
to honk off1970
to fuck off1973
to tweak (a person's or thing's) tail1977
to tweak (a person's or thing's) nose1983
to wind up1984
to dick about1996
to-teen-
1595 E. Spenser Amoretti xli, in Amoretti & Epithalamion sig. C6 If her nature and her wil be so, That she will plague the man that loues her most.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne i. ii, in Wks. I. 534 It giues thee law of plaguing him. View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Bastwick Letany i. 21/1 I will..so plauge the Metropolicallity of Yorke and Canterbury.
1658 W. Johnson tr. F. Würtz Surgeons Guid ii. xii. 94 Patients in this case are commonly plagued with a cough.
a1681 J. Lacy Sr. Hercules Buffoon (1684) iii. iii. 28 I am so plagued with Citizens, that I cannot have a Deer that's mans meat, but they steal it out of my Park, my Lord.
1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. viii. 9 Husbands and Wives..plaguing one another.
1767 P. Gibbes Woman of Fashion II. 171 What a dickens would you have more!.. I won't hear you, I won't be plagued.
a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. x. 221 I really cannot be plaguing myself for ever with all the new poems and states of the nation that come out. View more context for this quotation
1833 H. Martineau Tale of Tyne ii. 33 The big boys used to plague him, and he plagued the little ones.
1893 Dict. National Biogr. at Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland In 1541 she was again plaguing Henry with her money troubles.
1952 J. L. Waten Alien Son 105 You and your questions!.. Do you have to plague me, too?
1989 Chron. Horse 1 Sept. 51/3 When the above measures are followed, even horses that have been plagued by sore feet..will usually show great improvement.
b. transitive. to plague the life out of and variants: to wear out by constant or excessive teasing or nagging.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > harass [verb (transitive)]
tawc893
ermec897
swencheOE
besetOE
bestandc1000
teenOE
baitc1175
grieve?c1225
war?c1225
noyc1300
pursuec1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
tribula1325
worka1325
to hold wakenc1330
chase1340
twistc1374
wrap1380
cumbera1400
harrya1400
vexc1410
encumber1413
inquiet1413
molest?a1425
course1466
persecutec1475
trouble1489
sturt1513
hare1523
hag1525
hale1530
exercise1531
to grate on or upon1532
to hold or keep waking1533
infest1533
scourge1540
molestate1543
pinch1548
trounce1551
to shake upa1556
tire1558
moila1560
pester1566
importune1578
hunt1583
moider1587
bebait1589
commacerate1596
bepester1600
ferret1600
harsell1603
hurry1611
gall1614
betoil1622
weary1633
tribulatea1637
harass1656
dun1659
overharry1665
worry1671
haul1678
to plague the life out of1746
badger1782
hatchel1800
worry1811
bedevil1823
devil1823
victimize1830
frab1848
mither1848
to pester the life out of1848
haik1855
beplague1870
chevy1872
obsede1876
to get on ——1880
to load up with1880
tail-twist1898
hassle1901
heckle1920
snooter1923
hassle1945
to breathe down (the back of) (someone's) neck1946
to bust (a person's) chops1953
noodge1960
monster1967
1746 Let. 28 July in Leisure Hour (1880) 117 An old nasty grunting bishop..who plagues me out of my life, he is such a formal piece.
1765 G. G. Beekman Let. 4 Apr. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 483 Pray also Return Braytons bill on hammond for the fellow plagues my hart Out and Let me know what you think I may Venture to give him for it.
1834 A. Marsh Two Old Men's Tales II. 46 You are so odd that you would plague the life out of a woman that loved you.
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. xiii. 213 ‘If ever I do get my wish, you see what I'll do for Brooke.’ ‘Begin to do something now, by not plaguing his life out,’ said Meg, sharply.
1894 V. Hunt Maiden's Progress iii. 17 Moderna..plagues the other children's lives out with making them give her her cues, at all times and seasons.
1947 C. Mackenzie Whisky Galore xiv. 195 Captain Waggett was plaguing the life out of me.
1992 C. Harvey Legacy of Love 211 I shan't tell the children until luncheon otherwise they will plague the life out of me.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > plague or pestilence > cause plague or pestilence [verb (transitive)]
plaguec1595
pestilence1598
infect1607
empesta1612
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xci. 11 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 137 The noisome blast that plaguing straies Vntoucht shall passe thee by.
Derivatives
ˈplaguing n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > [adjective]
anguishous?c1225
wounding?c1225
asperc1374
derflya1400
rending?c1400
furiousc1405
fretting1413
piercingc1450
anguish1477
piquant1521
anguishing?1566
plaguing1566
asperous?1567
agonizing1570
tormenting1575
wringing1576
cutting1582
tormentous1583
tormentful1596
tormentuous1597
racking1598
torturous1600
lacerating1609
torturing1611
tearinga1616
heart-aching1620
breast-rending1625
crucifying1648
tormentative1654
martyring?a1656
tormentive1655
discruciating1658
cruciatory1660
anguishful1685
brain-racking1708
probing1749
agonized1793
anguished1803
harrowing1810
vulnerary1821
grinding1869
torturesome1889
wrenching1889
tortuous1922
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > [noun] > harassment
baiting1303
cumbrance1377
persecutiona1382
pursuita1387
aggrievancea1400
vexing?a1425
molestation1435
stroublance1439
inquietation1461
distrouble1483
infestance1490
encumberment1509
molesting1523
vexationa1525
inquieting1527
inquietance1531
molestie1532
infestationc1540
moiling1565
plaguing1566
pesterment1593
commacerating1599
molestance1642
harass1667
harassing1689
harassment1753
aggrievement1778
badgering1785
pesteration1802
bedevilment1844
worrying1848
tail-twisting1887
bloodhounding1891
aggravation1902
static1923
crap1935
hassle1969
monstering1979
1566 J. Studley tr. Seneca Medea f. 43 The plaging price of fathers fault submyt your selues to beare.
1581 J. Derricke Image Irelande ii. sig. Eiv (margin) The ioye of rebbelles is in plagyng of true men.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. iv. 10 A plaguing mischeefe light on Charles, and thee. View more context for this quotation
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IV. xxxi. 213 No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man's mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.
1854 E. C. Gaskell North & South vi I saw his ugly face leering at me with a wicked smile to think how he'd had the last word of plaguing.
1858 Harper's Mag. Jan. 274/2 Now..we hear of him only as suffering from some plaguing asthma among the fogs of Guernsey.
1935 S. Chase Govt. in Business ix. 161 The plaguing of travelers by spilling the contents of their trunks on dirty wharves might well be abandoned.
1983 S. Naipaul Hot Country iii. 32 She brushed aside the plaguing flies.
1999 Indianapolis Star 1 Jan. a6/6 Celebrex is the first in a new class of painkillers..that promise to cause fewer stomach-plaguing side effects than many of today's pain relievers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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