Plague n.
1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation.
And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail. --Wyclif.
The different plague of each calamity. --Shak.
2. Med. 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.”
Cattle plague. See Rinderpest.
Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague; hence, a token of something incurable.