pestilence

Noun
  1. 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 (synset 114162173)
    is a type of: epidemic disease - any infectious disease that develops and spreads rapidly to many people
    subtypes:
    • bubonic plague, glandular plague, pestis bubonica - the most common form of the plague in humans; characterized by chills, prostration, delirium and the formation of buboes in the armpits and groin; does not spread from person to person
    • plague pneumonia, pneumonic plague, pulmonic plague - a rapidly progressive and frequently fatal form of the plague that can spread through the air from person to person; characterized by lung involvement with chill, bloody expectoration and high fever
    • septicemic plague - an especially dangerous and generally fatal form of the plague in which infecting organisms invade the bloodstream; does not spread from person to person
    same as: pest, pestis, plague
  2. Any epidemic disease with a high death rate (synset 114099961)
    is a type of: epidemic disease - any infectious disease that develops and spreads rapidly to many people
    same as: pest, plague
  3. A pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of (synset 105701634)
    "racism is a pestilence at the heart of the nation"; "according to him, I was the canker in their midst"
    is a type of: influence - a cognitive factor that tends to have an effect on what you do
    same as: canker

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