the plague

English

Adverb

the plague (not comparable)

1. (dated) Synonym of the hell (“expletive”)
   • 1768, Oliver Goldsmith, The Good-Natur'd Man:

     Money, money, is the matter, madam. We have got no money. What the plague do you send me of your fool's errand for?

   • 1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “Mr. Mervyn in His Inn”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 33:

     […] and that rancid, raw-boned parson, Gillespie—how the plague did they pick him up?—one of the mutes told Bob it was he.