noun
- an annoying or troublesome person, animal, or thing; nuisance.
- an insect or other small animal that harms or destroys garden plants, trees, etc.
- a deadly epidemic disease, especially a plague; pestilence.
noun
- a person or thing that annoys, esp by imposing itself when it is not wanted; nuisance
-
- any organism that damages crops, injures or irritates livestock or man, or reduces the fertility of land
- (as modifier)pest control
- rare an epidemic disease or pestilence
1550s (in imprecations, “a pest upon ____,” etc.), “plague, pestilence,” from Middle French peste (1530s), from Latin pestis “deadly contagious disease; a curse, bane,” of uncertain origin. Meaning “noxious or troublesome person or thing” first recorded c.1600.
n.
- An injurious plant or animal, especially one harmful to humans.
- A deadly epidemic disease; a pestilence.