ghost

[ gohst ]

/ goʊst /

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.

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.

the principle of life; soul; spirit.

Informal. ghost writer.

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.

Idioms for ghost

give up the ghost,

to die.
to cease to function or exist.

Origin of ghost

before 900; Middle English goost (noun), Old English gāst; cognate with German Geist spirit

SYNONYMS FOR ghost

1 apparition, phantom, phantasm, wraith, revenant; shade, spook. Ghost, specter, spirit all refer to the disembodied soul of a person. A ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person, which appears or otherwise makes its presence known to the living: the ghost of a drowned child. A specter is a ghost or apparition of more or less weird, unearthly, or terrifying aspect: a frightening specter. Spirit is often interchangeable with ghost but may mean a supernatural being, usually with an indication of good or malign intent toward human beings: the spirit of a friend; an evil spirit.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR ghost ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM ghost

ghost·i·ly, adverb ghost·like, adjective de·ghost, verb (used with object) un·ghost·like, adjective

Words nearby ghost

ghiordes, ghiordes knot, ghirlandaio, ghirsh, ghon's tubercle, ghost, ghost car, ghost cell, ghost corpuscle, ghost crab, ghost dance

British Dictionary definitions for give up the ghost

ghost

/ (ɡəʊst) /

noun

the disembodied spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt the living as a pale or shadowy vision; phantom Related adjective: spectral

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

give up the ghost

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

Derived forms of ghost

ghostlike, adjective

Word Origin for ghost

Old English gāst; related to Old Frisian jēst, Old High German geist spirit, Sanskrit hēda fury, anger

Idioms and Phrases with give up the ghost (1 of 2)

give up the ghost

Die, as in At ten o'clock he gave up the ghost. This expression, which employs ghost in the sense of “the soul or spirit,” may itself be dying out. [Late 1300s]

Idioms and Phrases with give up the ghost (2 of 2)

ghost

In addition to the idiom beginning with ghost

ghost town

also see:

Chinaman's (ghost of a) chance
give up the ghost

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

ghost

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

adjective

Idioms for ghost

Origin of ghost

SYNONYMS FOR ghost

OTHER WORDS FROM ghost

Words nearby ghost

British Dictionary definitions for give up the ghost

noun

verb

Derived forms of ghost

Word Origin for ghost

Idioms and Phrases with give up the ghost (1 of 2)

Idioms and Phrases with give up the ghost (2 of 2)

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

ghost

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

adjective

Idioms for ghost

Origin of ghost

SYNONYMS FOR ghost

OTHER WORDS FROM ghost

Words nearby ghost

Words related to give up the ghost

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for give up the ghost

noun

verb

Derived forms of ghost

Word Origin for ghost

Idioms and Phrases with give up the ghost (1 of 2)

Idioms and Phrases with give up the ghost (2 of 2)

British Dictionary definitions for give up the ghost