scourge

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 [usuallysing.] ~ (of sb/sth) (written) a person or thing that causes trouble or suffering: the scourge of war / disease / poverty * Pirates are once again the scourge of the China Sea. * Inflation was the scourge of the 1970s. 2 a WHIP used to punish people in the past verb [VN] 1 [usuallypassive] (literary) to cause trouble or suffering to sb: He lay awake, scourged by his conscience. 2 (old use) to hit sb with a scourge \