Pestilence
Pestilence , noun
[French pestilence, Latin pestilentia. See Pestilent.]
1.
Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.
The pestilence that walketh in darkness.
2.
Figuratively: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers.
I'll pour this pestilence into his ear.
Collocations (1)
Pestilence weed (Botany) , the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. — Dr. Prior