Meaning of PESTILENCE
| Pronunciation: | | 'pestluns
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [n] a pernicious evil influence
- [n] any epidemic disease with a high death rate
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| | Synonyms: | | plague |
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| | See Also: | | epidemic disease, influence | |
| Products Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | Pestilence
This 1988 novel by a Welsh writer takes place during the 14th century, when the Black Plague swept Europe. Set in a poverty-stricken Welsh town that helplessly watches the plague advance, it also tells the parallel story of a young Egyptian who is traveling to Europe to seek revenge against an insult to his family. The two plot strands converge in an ironic ending in a novel that brings to life the complex canvas of the middle ages. more details ... |
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| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \Pes"ti*lence\, n. [F. pestilence, L. 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. --Ps. xci.
6.
2. Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to
the moral character of great numbers.
I'll pour this pestilence into his ear. --Shak.
{Pestilence weed} (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot ({Petasites
vulgaris}), so called because formerly considered a remedy
for the plague. --Dr. Prior.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | affliction, ambulatory plague, bane, Black Death, black plague, blight, bubonic plague, bugbear, burden, calamity, cancer, canker, cellulocutaneous plague, crushing burden, curse, death, defervescing plague, destruction, disease, epidemic, epiphytotic, epizootic, evil, glandular plague, grievance, harm, hemorrhagic plague, infliction, larval plague, murrain, nemesis, open wound, pandemia, pandemic, pest, pesthole, plague, plague spot, pneumonic plague, premonitory plague, running sore, scourge, septicemic plague, siderating plague, thorn, torment, tuberculosis, vexation, visitation, white plague, woe |
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