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ghost
[gohst]
noun
the soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit imagined, usually as a vague, shadowy or evanescent form, as wandering among or haunting living persons.
Synonyms: , , , , , ,a mere shadow or semblance; a trace.
He's a ghost of his former self.
a remote possibility.
He hasn't a ghost of a chance.
(sometimes initial capital letter)a spiritual being.
Informal.ghostwriter.
a secondary image, especially one appearing on a television screen as a white shadow, caused by poor or double reception or by a defect in the receiver.
Also called ghost image.Photography.a faint secondary or out-of-focus image in a photographic print or negative resulting from reflections within the camera lens.
an oral word game in which each player in rotation adds a letter to those supplied by preceding players, the object being to avoid ending a word.
Optics.a series of false spectral lines produced by a diffraction grating with unevenly spaced lines.
Metalworking.a streak appearing on a freshly machined piece of steel containing impurities.
a red blood cell having no hemoglobin.
a fictitious employee, business, etc., fabricated especially for the purpose of manipulating funds or avoiding taxes.
Investigation showed a payroll full of ghosts.
verb (used with object)
to ghostwrite (a book, speech, etc.).
to haunt.
Engraving.to lighten the background of (a photograph) before engraving.
Informal.
to suddenly end all contact with (a person) without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship.
The guy I’ve been dating ghosted me.
to leave (a social event or gathering) suddenly without saying goodbye.
My friend ghosted my birthday party.
Digital Technology.to remove (comments, threads, or other digital content) from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.
verb (used without object)
to ghostwrite.
to go about or move like a ghost.
(of a sailing vessel) to move when there is no perceptible wind.
to pay people for work not performed, especially as a way of manipulating funds.
Informal.
to suddenly end all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship.
They dated for a month and then she ghosted.
to leave a social event or gathering suddenly without saying goodbye.
I'm getting tired so I think I might just ghost.
Digital Technology.to remove comments, threads, or other digital content from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.
adjective
fabricated for purposes of deception or fraud.
We were making contributions to a ghost company.
ghost
/ ɡəʊ /
noun
the disembodied spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt the living as a pale or shadowy vision; phantom
a haunting memory
the ghost of his former life rose up before him
a faint trace or possibility of something; glimmer
a ghost of a smile
the spirit; soul (archaic, except in the phrase the Holy Ghost )
physics
a faint secondary image produced by an optical system
a similar image on a television screen, formed by reflection of the transmitting waves or by a defect in the receiver
See ghost word
Also called: ghost edition.an entry recorded in a bibliography of which no actual proof exists
Another name for ghostwriter See ghostwrite
(modifier) falsely recorded as doing a particular job or fulfilling a particular function in order that some benefit, esp money, may be obtained
a ghost worker
to die
(of a machine) to stop working
verb
See ghostwrite
(tr) to haunt
(intr) to move effortlessly and smoothly, esp unnoticed
he ghosted into the penalty area
Other Word Forms
- ghostily adverb
- ghostlike adjective
- deghost verb (used with object)
- unghostlike adjective
- ˈDzˌ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of ghost1
Word History and Origins
Origin of ghost1
Idioms and Phrases
give up the ghost,
to die.
to cease to function or exist.
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Monday and the following days, “it was a ghost town,” he said.
There’s more production now, but when we first were at Warner Bros. for this, it was a ghost town.
During my many interviews about the disorder, I heard psychiatrists describe bipolar patients as "ghosts in the system", "the ones that fell through the cracks" and simply as "forgotten" or "let down".
That’s because an indefinite 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew imposed on downtown Los Angeles following days of immigration enforcement demonstrations has turned this nightlife hub into a practical ghost town.
It’s designed to reawaken a ghost from the Vietnam era that has proven enduring, despite being repeatedly debunked.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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