plague

/pleɪg/ n [C/U] (DISEASE)

Definition

› a serious disease which kills many people The plague world history › The plague refers to a disease that appeared several times in the 14th century and later and that killed more than one third of the people in Europe and many people in Africa and Asia; Black Death. › A plague is also a large number of insects or animals which cause damage or unpleasant conditions in an area: [C] Trees throughout the Northeast are being attacked by a plague of gypsy moths.

(Definition of plague n (DISEASE) from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)