SCOURGE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Scourge

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/skərdʒ/ Listen

noun

Scourge n.

A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. "Up to coach then goes The observed maid, takes both the scourge and reins."

Hence, a means of inflicting punishment, vengeance, or suffering; an infliction of affliction; a punishment. "Sharp scourges of adversity." "What scourge for perjury Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?"

verb

Scourge v. t. (past & past part. scourged; pres. part. scourging)

To whip severely; to lash. "Is it lawful for you to scourge a... Roman?"

To punish with severity; to chastise; to afflict, as for sins or faults, and with the purpose of correction. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

To harass or afflict severely. "To scourge and impoverish the people."

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Etymology of 'Scourge'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Scourge" Quotes from Famous Books

... were created for a scourge and a snare to fallen man; for while we are compelled to spend much of our time in destroying thorns and thistles from our premises, they are continually tempting the weaker part of our race to spend their strength and time upon that, which at best, can yield no profit." But ...

— The Snow-Drop • Sarah S. Mower

... but homeless, living in hotels and boarding-houses, is awfully handicapped. Children are only little animals, and travel is their bane and scourge. They belong on the ground, among the leaves and flowers and tall grass—in the trees or digging in sand piles. Hotel hallways, table-d'hote dinners and the clash of travel, are all terrible ...

— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 6 - Subtitle: Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Artists • Elbert Hubbard

... unwilling to get up when I heard the doctor's voice, till I remembered that we were to make war on the alligators. The feeling of utter detestation with which those creatures are regarded is not surprising, when it is recollected what a scourge they are to the people inhabiting the banks of the rivers and lakes of that part of the country. I was soon on foot; and having loaded my gun with ball, I accompanied the doctor to a little creek which ran at no great distance ...

— The Young Llanero - A Story of War and Wild Life in Venezuela • W.H.G. Kingston

... alone, of all in the establishment, while the sick lay scattered through the town on uncounted thousands of beds, and the month of October passed by, bringing death to eleven hundred more, escaped untouched of the scourge. ...

— Dr. Sevier • George W. Cable

... Capitol? S. Chiara's shrine was hung round with her relics; and among these the heart extracted from her body was suspended. Upon it, apparently wrought into the very substance of the mummied flesh, were impressed a figure of the crucified Christ, the scourge, and the five stigmata. The guardian's faith in this miraculous witness to her sainthood, the gentle piety of the men and women who knelt before it, checked all expressions of incredulity. We abandoned ourselves to the genius of the place; ...

— Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Complete - Series I, II, and III • John Symonds

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