The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - scourge n.

1) curse, misfortune, bane, evil, affliction, plague, adversity, torment, misery, woe: He questions whether AIDS should be considered the scourge of the 20th century. Was it Attila who proved himself the scourge of Rome? 2 whip, lash, cat-o'-nine-tails, knout, quirt, horsewhip, bull-whip: They saw fit to punish themselves with scourges. --v. 3) whip, flog, beat, lash, horsewhip, whale, belt, flagellate: Some medieval sects scourged themselves as they went in procession through the cities. 4) punish, castigate, chastise, discipline, afflict, torment: In the old days, students were scourged if they made a mistake.