PEST • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pest

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/pɛst/ Listen

noun

Pest n.

A fatal epidemic disease; a pestilence; specif., the plague. "England's sufferings by that scourge, the pest."

Anything which resembles a pest; one who, or that which, is troublesome, noxious, mischievous, or destructive; a nuisance. "A pest and public enemy."

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Etymology of 'Pest'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pest" Quotes from Famous Books

... nothing a while, but stood pale and downcast. And he said: "What is this, playmate? I looked to have much praise from thee for my deed. Dost thou know that this man was as the pest to all the country-side, and that I have freed men of peace from a curse?" "Be not wrath with me, Osberne," she said, "indeed I am somewhat downcast; for I see that now thou wilt be no playmate for ...

— The Sundering Flood • William Morris

... ladies of the old days, we are more than ever driven to reflection. It is impossible to imagine a more insensate collection of gamblers than the women of Horace Walpole's society. Well-bred harpies won and lost fortunes, and the vice became a raging pest. A young politician could not further his own prospects better than by letting some high-born dame win his money; if the youth won the lady's money, then a discreet forgetfulness of the debt was profitable to him. The rattle of dice and the shuffle of cards sounded wherever ...

— Side Lights • James Runciman

... their fate's inextricably blended; Let either faint or flag, they shall not win Athwart the aerial azure clear and thin. Brothered in use are they, in use and need. See how the Serpent's many-coloured skin Writhes hither, thither, with insidious heed, Striving to maim one pinion. Shall the pest succeed? ...

— Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 99, September 13, 1890 • Various

... hither, every one that of you be! That fulsome harlot makes me laughing-stock And she refuses at our prayer restore Our stolen Note-books, an such slights ye bear. 5 Let us pursue her clamouring our demands. "Who's she?" ye question: yonder one ye sight Mincingly pacing mime-like, perfect pest, With jaws wide grinning like a Gallic pup. Stand all round her dunning with demands, 10 "Return (O rotten whore!) our noting books. Our noting books (O rotten whore!) return!" No doit thou car'st? O Mire! O Stuff o' stews! ...

— The Carmina of Caius Valerius Catullus • Caius Valerius Catullus

... were more numerous than the leaves in the field, and the surface became reddish instead of being green: the swarm having once alighted, the individuals flew from side to side in all directions. Locusts are not an uncommon pest in this country: already during this season several smaller swarms had come up from the south, where, as apparently in all other parts of the world, they are bred in the deserts. The poor cottagers in vain attempted by lighting ...

— A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World - The Voyage Of The Beagle • Charles Darwin

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