The meaning of Scourge

verb

(of a problem or illness) cause pain or trouble to; affect adversely.

Usage examples:

His younger child was afflicted with a skin disease

verb

To make someone or something suffer physically or mentally

Usage examples:

He was afflicted with severe asthma., illiteracy is a serious affliction.

noun

A cause of pain or harm.

Usage examples:

A crippling affliction of the nervous system

noun

Something that makes you suffer

Usage examples:

Malnutrition is one of the common afflictions of the poor.

noun

A cause of great distress or annoyance.

Usage examples:

The telephone was the bane of my life

noun

Something that is particularly effective in causing you trouble or worry

Usage examples:

Instead of doing his homework, my son is always playing computer games – they’re the bane of my exi…

verb

Strike (a person or an animal) repeatedly and violently so as to hurt or injure them, typically with an implement such as a club or whip.

Usage examples:

If we were caught we were beaten

noun

A main accent or rhythmic unit in music or poetry.

Usage examples:

The glissando begins on the second beat

adjective

Short for beatnik.

verb

(of something bad) cause great and continual trouble to.

Usage examples:

Projects like this are bedevilled by a shortage of cash

noun

A strip of leather or other material worn, typically round the waist, to support or hold in clothes or to carry weapons.

Usage examples:

He tightened his leather belt an extra notch

verb

Fasten with a belt.

Usage examples:

She belted her raincoat firmly

noun

A strip of leather or other material worn around the waist

Usage examples:

A black leather belt, the corn belt (= area known for growing corn), he belted the ball out of the …

verb

(of a problem or difficulty) trouble (someone or something) persistently.

Usage examples:

The social problems that beset the uk

verb

Hurt or troubled by something bad

Usage examples:

Many problems have beset the team in recent months.

noun

A slender hardy tree which has thin peeling bark and bears catkins. birch trees grow chiefly in northern temperate regions and yield hard, pale, fine-grained timber.

Usage examples:

Police want to identify areas where the western hemlock (tsuga heterophylla) and the birch tree gro…

verb

Beat (someone) with a bundle of birch twigs as a formal punishment.

Usage examples:

The school would attempt to birch them into submission

noun

A tree with a smooth, often white bark (= outer covering), or the wood of this tree

noun

A plant disease, typically one caused by fungi such as mildews, rusts, and smuts.

Usage examples:

The vines suffered blight and disease

verb

Have a severely detrimental effect on.

Usage examples:

The scandal blighted the careers of several leading politicians

noun

Something that spoils or destroys or causes damage

Usage examples:

[ u ] the city stopped urban blight by rebuilding neighborhoods., poverty and disease blighted thei…

noun

A whip with a long heavy lash.

Usage examples:

The fictional zorro may have defended himself with a long whip, but a bullwhip was not designed as …

verb

Strike or thrash with a bullwhip.

Usage examples:

He was suspected of bullwhipping a fellow to death

noun

A load, typically a heavy one.

Usage examples:

And laying my heavy burden in the safe hands of the luggage compartment i went to my seat and was g…

verb

Load heavily.

Usage examples:

She walked forwards burdened with a wooden box

noun

A duty or responsibility that is hard to bear

Usage examples:

I don’t want to be a burden on my children., he was burdened with debts.

noun

A disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.

Usage examples:

He's got cancer

proper noun

A constellation (the crab), said to represent a crab crushed under the foot of hercules. it contains the globular star cluster of praesepe or the beehive.

proper noun

The fourth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters at the northern summer solstice (about 21 june).

noun

The hollow jointed stem of a tall grass, especially bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem of a slender palm such as rattan.

Usage examples:

They brought the eggs back to constantinople in hollow canes.

verb

Beat with a cane as a punishment.

Usage examples:

Matthew was caned for bullying by the headmaster

noun

A destructive fungal disease of apple and other trees that results in damage to the bark.

Usage examples:

Cut out lesions on branches caused by canker

verb

(of a plant or part of a plant) become infected with canker.

Usage examples:

The tree is apt to canker in poor soils

noun

A solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something.

Usage examples:

She'd put a curse on him

verb

An offensive word or phrase used to express anger or annoyance.

Usage examples:

At every blow there was a curse

verb

To say rude or offensive words about something or someone because you are angry

Usage examples:

[ i ] no coach is allowed to curse at or lay a hand on a player., if we don't do something about th…

verb

Destroy or ruin.

Usage examples:

The city was devastated by a huge earthquake

verb

To cause great damage or suffering to something or someone, or to violently destroy a place

Usage examples:

Waves of corporate downsizing have devastated employee morale., i was so devastated i was crying co…

adjective

Profoundly immoral and wicked.

Usage examples:

His evil deeds

noun

Profound immorality and wickedness, especially when regarded as a supernatural force.

Usage examples:

His struggle against the forces of evil

noun

The condition of being immoral, cruel, or bad, or an act of this type

Usage examples:

[ u ] a contest between good and evil, an evil ruler

verb

Flog (someone), either as a religious discipline or for sexual gratification.

Usage examples:

He flagellated himself with branches

noun

A protozoan that has one or more flagella used for swimming.

Usage examples:

In addition to the protozoan in figure 1.6, several other types were found, including amoebae, othe…

adjective

(of a cell or single-celled organism) bearing one or more flagella.

Usage examples:

Motile flagellate cells

noun

A slender threadlike structure, especially a microscopic appendage that enables many protozoa, bacteria, spermatozoa, etc. to swim.

Usage examples:

Development of the spermatid flagellum begins immediately after meiosis.

noun

A threshing tool consisting of a wooden staff with a short heavy stick swinging from it.

Usage examples:

In some middle eastern locations, the same animals dragged a sledge over the ears, or workers manua…

verb

Wave or swing wildly.

Usage examples:

His arms flailed as he sought to maintain his balance

verb

Beat (someone) with a whip or stick as a punishment.

Usage examples:

The men had been flogged and branded on the forehead

noun

An arduous climb or struggle.

Usage examples:

A long flog up the mountainside

verb

Beat with a whip, rod, or cane

noun

A long whip used for driving and controlling horses.

Usage examples:

Vicious black-eyed figures in long dark cloaks with white neck collars and black horsewhips marshal…

verb

Beat (a person or animal) with a horsewhip.

Usage examples:

She would horsewhip them mercilessly

verb

To hit someone with a whip (= long, thin piece of leather, rope, etc.)

noun

(in imperial russia) a whip used to inflict punishment, often causing death.

Usage examples:

Hugo haase told the french socialists that ‘what the prussian boot means to you, the russian knout …

verb

Flog (someone) with a knout.

verb

Strike or beat with a whip or stick.

Usage examples:

They lashed him repeatedly about the head

noun

A sharp blow or stroke with a whip or rope.

Usage examples:

He was sentenced to fifty lashes for his crime

verb

A quick blow delivered with a whip or whiplike object

noun

A frothy white mass of bubbles produced by soap, washing powder, etc. when mixed with water.

Usage examples:

She rinsed off the lather and dried her hands

verb

Form or cause to form a lather.

Usage examples:

Soap will not lather in hard water

noun

A mass of small white bubbles produced esp. when soap is mixed with water

Usage examples:

[ i ] i lathered and shaved quickly.

noun

A material made from the skin of an animal by tanning or a similar process.

Usage examples:

A leather jacket

verb

Short for stirrup leather.

noun

Animal skin that has been treated in order to preserve it and is used to make shoes, bags, clothes, equipment, etc.

Usage examples:

A leather jacket, his skin was tough and leathery.

noun

A person or thing that is likely to cause harm; a threat or danger.

Usage examples:

A new initiative aimed at beating the menace of drugs

verb

Be a threat or possible danger to.

Usage examples:

Africa's elephants are still menaced by poaching

noun

Danger, or someone or something that is likely to cause harm

Usage examples:

[ u ] there was an air of controlled menace about him., [ c ] that boy is a menace to himself and h…

noun

A state or feeling of great physical or mental distress or discomfort.

Usage examples:

A man who had brought her nothing but misery

noun

Great unhappiness

Usage examples:

[ u ] with the rice harvest, hope is sprouting amid the misery.

noun

Bad luck.

Usage examples:

The project was dogged by misfortune

noun

Bad luck, or an unlucky event

Usage examples:

[ c ] never take delight in someone’s personal misfortunes., [ u ] the school nurse was as mean a l…

noun

A person or thing causing inconvenience or annoyance.

Usage examples:

It's a nuisance having all those people clomping through the house

noun

Something or someone that annoys you or causes trouble for you

Usage examples:

It’s a nuisance filling out all these forms.

noun

Someone or something that causes a problem for other people, an area, etc. that may be able to be solved by the law

Usage examples:

Residents claim that the company's emissions are harmful and constitute a nuisance., noise/odour/pu…

verb

Keep (someone) in subjection and hardship, especially by the unjust exercise of authority.

Usage examples:

A system which oppressed working people

verb

To govern people in an unfair and cruel way and prevent them from having opportunities and freedom

Usage examples:

In his speech he spoke against those who continue to oppress the poor., he's feeling oppressed by t…

noun

A destructive insect or other animal that attacks crops, food, livestock, etc.

Usage examples:

The tomato plant attracts a pest called whitefly

noun

An insect or small animal that is harmful or damages crops

Usage examples:

The aphid is a garden pest., my brother is such a pest.

noun

A contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes (bubonic plague) and sometimes infection of the lungs (pneumonic plague).

Usage examples:

Person-to-person spread of bubonic or septicemic plague does not occur; however, pneumonic plague i…

verb

A contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes ( bubonic plague ) and sometimes infection of the lungs ( pneumonic plague ).

verb

To cause someone or something difficulty or suffering, esp. repeatedly or continually

Usage examples:

Financial problems have been plaguing the company., that pain in my shoulder is plaguing me again.,…

verb

Inflict a penalty or sanction on (someone) as retribution for an offence, especially a transgression of a legal or moral code.

Usage examples:

I have done wrong and i'm being punished for it

verb

To cause people who have done something wrong or committed a crime to suffer by making them do something they don’t want to do or sending them to prison

Usage examples:

She was punished for being late to school., swimming in the potomac is punishable by a fine., [ c ]…

noun

A short-handled riding whip with a braided leather lash.

Usage examples:

For years people who want to have a recreational horse, and enjoy themselves, and don't want to hav…

verb

Hit with a quirt.

Usage examples:

Claggart quirted her again and again

noun

Stiff untanned leather.

Usage examples:

Strips of rawhide

noun

A strip of leather, cloth, or other flexible material, used to fasten, secure, or carry something or to hold on to something.

Usage examples:

Her bra strap

verb

Fasten or secure in a specified place or position with a strap.

Usage examples:

I had to strap the bag to my bicycle

verb

An elongated leather strip (or a strip of similar material) for binding things together or holding something in position

noun

A long, narrow band or strip differing in colour or texture from the surface on either side of it.

Usage examples:

A pair of blue shorts with pink stripes

verb

Mark with stripes.

Usage examples:

Her body was striped with bands of sunlight

noun

The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.

Usage examples:

Weapons that cause unnecessary suffering

verb

Experience or be subjected to (something bad or unpleasant).

Usage examples:

He suffered intense pain

noun

A device for making and breaking the connection in an electric circuit.

Usage examples:

The guard hit a switch and the gate swung open

verb

Change the position, direction, or focus of.

Usage examples:

The company switched the boats to other routes

verb

Device for making or breaking the connections in a circuit

noun

A narrow strip of leather or other material, used especially as a fastening or as the lash of a whip.

Usage examples:

A wooden ladder lashed together with leather thongs led into a hole into the ceiling above.

verb

Flog or lash with a whip.

noun

A light shoe, often made of rubber, consisting of a flat bottom attached to the foot by a narrow strap that fits between the big toe and the toe next to it

verb

Beat (a person or animal) repeatedly and violently with a stick or whip.

Usage examples:

She thrashed him across the head and shoulders

noun

A violent or noisy movement of beating or thrashing.

Usage examples:

The thrash of the waves

verb

Give a beating to

noun

Severe physical or mental suffering.

Usage examples:

Their deaths have left both families in torment

verb

Cause to experience severe mental or physical suffering.

Usage examples:

He was tormented by jealousy

noun

Great mental or physical suffering, or something that causes such pain

Usage examples:

[ u ] after three days of torment, she went to a dentist., [ c ] that child acts like it’s a tormen…

noun

The action or practice of inflicting severe pain or suffering on someone as a punishment or in order to force them to do or say something.

Usage examples:

The torture of political prisoners

verb

Inflict severe pain or suffering on.

Usage examples:

Most of the victims had been brutally tortured

noun

An injury or severe mental pain

Usage examples:

[ c ] all drivers suffer the tortures of traffic and bad weather., [ u ] the museum has many exampl…

noun

A formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings.

Usage examples:

The newspaper accounts of the trial

verb

Test (something, especially a new product) to assess its suitability or performance.

Usage examples:

Teachers all over the uk are trialling the materials

noun

The examination in a court of law of the facts of a case to decide whether a person is guilty of a crime or responsible for an injury to another person

Usage examples:

[ c ] a criminal/civil trial, [ u ] the case will soon go to trial (= begin)., [ u ] she must still…

noun

A very large marine mammal with a streamlined hairless body, a horizontal tail fin, and a blowhole on top of the head for breathing.

Usage examples:

Marine mammals include narwhals, beluga whales, walrus, and ringed and bearded seals.

verb

Beat; hit.

Usage examples:

Dad came upstairs and whaled me

noun

A very large sea mammal

noun

A strip of leather or length of cord fastened to a handle, used for flogging or beating a person or for urging on an animal.

Usage examples:

I wouldn't be surprised if they walked around their office wearing tight leather and vinyl with whi…

verb

Short for whipper-in.

noun

An instrument with a handle and a flexible lash