plague

plague is a Noun

Definition:

[1] That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation. Shak. And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail. Wyclif. The different plague of each calamity. Shak.

[2] An acute malignant contagious fever, that often prevails in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, and has at times visited the large cities of Europe with frightful mortality; hence, any pestilence; as, the great London plague. "A plague upon the people fell." Tennyson. Cattle plague. See Rinderpest. -- Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague; hence, a token of something incurable.