WHITE PLAGUE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does white plague mean? 

• WHITE PLAGUE (noun)
  The noun WHITE PLAGUE has 2 senses:

1. involving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body

2. an addiction to a drug (especially a narcotic drug)

  Familiarity information: WHITE PLAGUE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WHITE PLAGUE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Involving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

consumption; phthisis; pulmonary tuberculosis; wasting disease; white plague

Hypernyms ("white plague" is a kind of...):

T.B.; TB; tuberculosis (infection transmitted by inhalation or ingestion of tubercle bacilli and manifested in fever and small lesions (usually in the lungs but in various other parts of the body in acute stages))

Sense 2

Meaning:

An addiction to a drug (especially a narcotic drug)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

drug addiction; white plague

Hypernyms ("white plague" is a kind of...):

addiction; dependance; dependence; dependency; habituation (being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs))

Domain category:

narcotic (a drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "white plague"):

alcohol addiction; alcoholism; drunkenness; inebriation (habitual intoxication; prolonged and excessive intake of alcoholic drinks leading to a breakdown in health and an addiction to alcohol such that abrupt deprivation leads to severe withdrawal symptoms)

cocaine addiction (an addiction to cocaine)

heroin addiction (an addiction to heroin)

caffein addiction (an addiction to caffein)

nicotine addiction (an addiction to nicotine)