1. scourge - Noun
2. scourge - Verb
A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip.
Hence, a means of inflicting punishment, vengeance, or suffering; an infliction of affliction; a punishment.
To whip severely; to lash.
To punish with severity; to chastise; to afflict, as for sins or faults, and with the purpose of correction.
To harass or afflict severely.
Source: Webster's dictionaryWar is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it. Martin Luther
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it. Aung San Suu Kyi
We had four years of world war which the peoples endured only because they were told that their sufferings would free humanity forever from the scourge of war. Arthur Henderson
Yet, nearly 6 decades after the Holocaust concluded, Anti-Semitism still exists as the scourge of the world. Eliot Engel
Lawyer for the rich, scourge of the poor. Peruvian Proverb
The tail is the hardest to scourge. French Proverb