Bane (7)
I believe the answer is:
scourge
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">bane</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(synonyms)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for scourge that I've seen before include "Whip - bane" , "Flog, punish" , "form of punishment" , "Whip; source of suffering" , "cat" .)