plague
part of speech
noun (a plague, plagues; the plague); verb (plague, plagues, plagued, plaguing)
meaning for a pupil
1) A plague is a serious disease that spreads quickly and kills many people; "the plague" usually means bubonic plague, the Black Death of the Middle Ages, spread by fleas on rats. tree →
2) (Bible) The ten plagues were the disasters God sent on Egypt in Exodus — such as frogs, locusts, darkness and the death of the firstborn — so Pharaoh would free the Israelites. tree →
3) A plague of something is a huge, annoying number of it: "a plague of wasps". tree →
4) To plague someone is to keep bothering or troubling them. tree →
5) An old-fashioned curse, such as "a plague on" someone, is a wish that something bad will happen to them. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Torah a plague is a punishment or deadly sickness sent by God, such as the ten plagues on Egypt or the plague that struck Israel at Baal-peor. Skin or mildew "plague" on a person, cloth or house is also called by this word. Interpretation: Tradition reads the plagues as God's justice, measure for measure, and Pharaoh's ten plagues are remembered at the Passover seder with drops of wine. The plague at Peor was stopped by Phinehas, whose zeal the tradition sees as saving Israel. In the primary lessons: In history lessons, the Great Plague and the village of Eyam, which shut itself off to stop the spread, show courage and how germs spread. In science, pupils learn plague is caused by bacteria and can now be treated with antibiotics. In everyday talk, "avoid it like the plague" means stay right away. Phrases: the plague, a plague of locusts, the ten plagues, avoid like the plague, plagued by.
examples
- So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. (Torah NUM.25.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand. (Torah NUM.25.9, JPS 1917) tree →
- And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. (Torah NUM.16.48, JPS 1917) tree →
- Then stood up Phinehas, and wrought judgment, and so the plague was stayed. (Writings PSA.106.30, JPS 1917) tree →
- In the trouble of man they are not; neither are they plagued like men. (Writings PSA.73.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- For all the day have I been plagued, and my chastisement came every morning. (Writings PSA.73.14, JPS 1917) tree →
- The plague spread through the city, carried by fleas on rats. tree →
- The fourth plague was swarms of flies. tree →
- Locusts came in a plague and ate the crops. tree →
- The village of Eyam stayed apart so the plague would not spread. tree →
- Our picnic was plagued by wasps. tree →
- I avoid spiders like the plague. tree →
- He was plagued by worries before the test. tree →
- A plague on the shrew and on her pudding! tree →
note
Countable (plagues), but "the plague" for the disease. Say "playg" — the -ue is silent (like vague, league). Verb forms plagued, plaguing.
In the corpora
- And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
- When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest.
- And if it spread abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague.
- And when a man or woman hath a plague upon the head or upon the beard,
- he is a leprous man, he is unclean; the priest shall surely pronounce him unclean: his plague is in his head.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «plague» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.