- (also the plague)(also bubonic plague)[uncountable]
a disease spread by rats that causes a high temperature, swellings (= areas that are larger and rounder than usual) on the body and usually death 鼠疫： 一種由大鼠傳播的疾病，會引起高溫，腫脹並通常導致死亡a decline in population following outbreaks of plague 瘟疫爆發後人口的下降
Extra ExamplesTopics Illnessc1Fleas spread plague from animals to humans. 跳蚤將鼠疫從動物傳染給人類。 Nearly a third of the population died in the Great Plague. 近三分之一的人口在倫敦大瘟疫中喪生。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bubonic
- great
- outbreak
- suffer
- spread
- be decimated by
- …
- break out
- start
- strike (something)
- …
- plague of
- [countable]
any disease that spreads quickly and kills a lot of people 死亡率高的傳染病；瘟疫 the plague of AIDS 艾滋病這種嚴重的傳染病
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bubonic
- great
- outbreak
- suffer
- spread
- be decimated by
- …
- break out
- start
- strike (something)
- …
- plague of
- [countable] plague of something
large numbers of an animal or insect that come into an area and cause great damage （大批動物或昆蟲肆虐造成的）災害，禍患 a plague of locusts/rats, etc. 蝗災、鼠害等
Extra ExamplesTopics Insects, worms, etc.c2The city is suffering a plague of rats. 這個城市正在鬧鼠災。 The region has just suffered a plague of locusts. 該地區剛剛遭受了蝗災。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bubonic
- great
- outbreak
- suffer
- spread
- be decimated by
- …
- break out
- start
- strike (something)
- …
- plague of
Word Originlate Middle English: Latin plaga ‘stroke, wound’, probably from Greek (Doric dialect) plaga, from a base meaning ‘strike’.
Idioms
avoid somebody/something like the plague
- (informal)
to try very hard not to meet somebody, do something, etc. 像避瘟疫似的躲着某人（或某事物）；盡量避開某人（或某事物） She's been avoiding me like the plague since the party last Saturday. 自從上周六的聚會以來，她一直躲着我。 I hate office parties—I avoid them like the plague. 我討厭辦公室聚會——我避之不及。