Reference meaning
pestilence
Last updated
a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by Yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
Related source terms
Other meanings
2. noun
any epidemic disease with a high death rate
3. noun
a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of
Source and scope
This definition is reproduced from Princeton WordNet 3.0, sense 14138691-n, under the WordNet 3.0 License. It has not yet received VocabularyBase editorial review. Read the source and license details.