Pest

¹ American  

[pest, pesht] / pɛst, pɛʃt /

noun

1. Budapest

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pest ² American  

[pest] / pɛst /

noun

1. an annoying or troublesome person, animal, or thing; nuisance.

   Synonyms:

   annoyance

2. an insect or other small animal that harms or destroys garden plants, trees, etc.

3. a deadly epidemic disease, especially a plague; pestilence.

   Synonyms:

   epidemic , scourge , pandemic

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pest British  

/ pɛst /

noun

1. a person or thing that annoys, esp by imposing itself when it is not wanted; nuisance

2. 1. any organism that damages crops, injures or irritates livestock or man, or reduces the fertility of land

   2. ( as modifier )

      pest control

3. rare  an epidemic disease or pestilence

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Other Word Forms

• de-pest verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of pest

First recorded in 1545–55, pest is from the Latin word pestis plague

Example Sentences

Once cats became associated with people, they were moved around the world, prized as ship cats and pest controllers.

From BBC

A tourist family-of-four who died while visiting Istanbul on holiday from Germany in mid-November were poisoned by a gas that is used to treat pest infestations, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.

From Barron's

Partly because he treated us kids like miniature adults; not prodigies, not pests, just small people doing something brave together.

From Salon

The study also underscores the role of varroa mites, parasitic pests that spread many of the viruses tied to queen failure.

From Science Daily

Hazardous pesticides — and sensitive data from customers who trusted a trio of pest control companies, including Orkin — allegedly wound up in the regular trash.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blight
• bug
• contagion
• epidemic
• infection
• plague
• scourge
• virus