• Ghost

    Pronunciation

    • UK IPA: /ɡəʊst/
    • US IPA: /É¡oÊŠst/
    • Rhymes: -əʊst

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Middle English gost, gast, from Old English gāst ("breath, soul, spirit, ghost, being"), from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz ("ghost, spirit"), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeizd-, *ǵʰizd- ("anger, agitation"), *ǵʰeysd-, *ǵʰisd- ("anger, agitation"). Cognate with Scots ghaist ("ghost"), West Frisian geast ("spirit"), Dutch geest ("spirit, mind, ghost"), German Geist ("spirit, mind, intellect"), Swedish gast ("ghost"), Sanskrit हेड (heḍa, "anger, hatred").

    Full definition of ghost

    Noun

    ghost

    (plural ghosts)
    1. (rare) The spirit; the soul of man.
      • SpenserThen gives her grieved ghost thus to lament.
    2. The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death; an apparition; a specter.Everyone showed that the ghost of an old lady haunted this crypt.
      • The mighty ghosts of our great Harries rose.
      • ColeridgeI thought that I had died in sleep/And was a blessed ghost.
      • Schuster Hepaticae V|viiHepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
    3. Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image; a phantom; a glimmering.
      • PoeEach separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
      • 2013, William E. Conner, An Acoustic Arms Race, Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
    4. not a ghost of a chance; the ghost of an idea
    5. A false image formed in a telescope, camera, or other optical device by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.
    6. An unwanted image similar to and overlapping or adjacent to the main one on a television screen, caused by the transmitted image being received both directly and via reflection.
    7. A ghostwriter.
    8. (Internet) An unresponsive user on IRC, resulting from the user's client disconnecting without notifying the server.
    9. (computing) An image of a file or hard disk.
    10. (theater) An understudy.
    11. (espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.
    12. The faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.
      • 1992, Maurice J. Whitford, Getting Rid of Graffiti (page 45)Regardless of GRM used, graffiti ghosts persist. Protect cladding with surface coating or replace with graffiti resistant paint or laminate.
    13. (video games) An opponent in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route, allowing players to compete against previous best times.
      • 2012, Keith Burgun, Game Design Theory: A New Philosophy for Understanding GamesThis is also the case for some racing games (Super Mario Kart is a good example) that allow you to compete against your ghosts, which are precise recordings of your performance.
    14. (attributive, in names of species) white or pale
      ghost slug; ghostberry; ghostflower; ghost crab; ghost bat
    15. (attributive, in names of species) transparent or translucent
      ghost ant; ghost catfish; ghost nipper; ghost nudibranch
    16. (attributive) abandoned
      ghost town; ghost net; ghost ramp; ghost ship
    17. (attributive) the remains of
      ghost cell; ghost crater; ghost image
    18. (attributive) perceived or listed but not real
      ghost pain; ghost cellphone vibration; ghost island; ghost voter
    19. (attributive) of cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature
      ghost rocket; ghost deer; ghost cat
    20. (attributive) substitute
      ghost writer; ghost band; ghost singer

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from ghost

    Verb

    1. (obsolete, transitive) To haunt; to appear to in the form of an apparition.
      • 1606, William_Shakespeare, , Act II, sc. 6, l. 1221since Julius Caesar,
        Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted
    2. (obsolete) To die; to expire.
    3. (ambitransitive) To ghostwrite.
    4. (computing) to copy a file or hard drive image.
    5. (internet, transitive) To forcibly disconnect an IRC user who is using one's reserved nickname.
      • 2011, September 24, David Ornstein, Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton, Arsenal came into the match under severe pressure and nerves were palpable early on as Pratley was brilliantly denied by Szczesny after ghosting in front of Kieran Gibbs

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