bubonic plague

noun

: plague caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) and characterized especially by the formation of buboes

Examples of bubonic plague in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Its poignant impact is heightened by the knowledge that Titus would die in a wave of bubonic plague that swept through Amsterdam in 1668 — one year before Rembrandt himself died. —Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 17 June 2023

In 1349 alone, more than 40 percent of London’s residents died of the bubonic plague. —Cody Cassidy, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 June 2023

The mass grave and the presence of the bubonic plague, amazingly, may have just been a coincidence. —Jackie Appel, Popular Mechanics, 7 June 2023

Symptoms of the bubonic plague often included large, swollen lymph nodes that oozed puss. —Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 31 Mar. 2023

The bubonic plague triggered the 14th-century pandemic, which killed at least one-third of Europe’s population, writes the Guardian’s Ian Sample. —Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 June 2023

It is first recorded to have been used at Westminster Abbey in 1349, when the bubonic plague known as the Black Death was spreading across the country. —Leila Sackur, NBC News, 6 May 2023

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the bubonic plague killed over 25 million people in Europe during the 14th century. —Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 31 Mar. 2023

This is the same rat that wiped out half of Europe with the bubonic plague. —Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 13 Jan. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bubonic plague

noun

: a form of plague that is spread especially from rats to humans by fleas and is marked by chills, fever, weakness, and buboes

Medical Definition

bubonic plague

noun

: plague caused by a bacterium of the genus Yersinia (Y. pestis synonym Pasteurella pestis) and characterized especially by the formation of buboes compare pneumonic plague