Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The spirit of a dead person, especially one that is believed to appear to the living in bodily form or to haunt specific locations.
  • noun A person's spirit or soul.
  • noun A returning or haunting memory or image.
  • noun A slight or faint trace.
  • noun The tiniest bit.
  • noun A faint, unwanted image, as.
  • noun An unwanted image on a television or radar screen caused by reflected waves.
  • noun A displaced image in a photograph caused by the optical system of the camera.
  • noun An unwanted spectral line caused by imperfections in a diffraction grating.
  • noun A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass.
  • noun Informal A ghostwriter.
  • noun A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies.
  • noun A fictitious employee or business.
  • noun Physiology A red blood cell having no hemoglobin.
  • intransitive verb Informal To engage in ghostwriting.
  • intransitive verb To move noiselessly like a ghost.
  • intransitive verb To haunt.
  • intransitive verb Informal To ghostwrite.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who does literary, legal, or artistic work for another, who gets all the credit; one who ‘devils’ for another.
  • noun A false line in a diffraction-spectrum caused by certain periodic irregularities in the ruling of the grating which produces the spectrum. Ghosts usually occur in pairs accompanying a conspicuous line on each side of it and near it. See grating.
  • noun A red blood-corpuscle from which the red coloring-matter or hemoglobin has escaped.
  • To appear to in the form of a ghost; haunt as a spirit or specter.
  • To give up the ghost; die; expire.
  • noun Breath; spirit; specifically, the breath; the spirit; the soul of man.
  • noun The soul of a dead person; the soul or spirit separate from the body; more especially, a disembodied spirit imagined as wandering among or haunting living persons; a human specter or apparition.
  • noun A spirit; a demon.
  • noun A spirit in general; an unearthly specter or apparition.
  • noun A dead body.
  • noun A mere shadow or semblance.
  • noun In optics, a spot of light or secondary image caused by a defect of the instrument, generally by reflections from the lenses.
  • noun Specifically In photography, a glint of light cast by the lens on the focusing-glass or on the plate during exposure, in the latter case producing a more or less defined opaque spot. It results usually from the presence of a too strongly illuminated surface or object in or near the field of the lens. Also called flare.
  • noun An order founded at Montpellier, France, about the end of the twelfth century, and united to the Order of St. Lazarus by Pope Clement XIII.
  • noun A Neapolitan order. See Order of the Knot, under knot
  • noun Synonyms Ghost, Shade, Apparition, Specter, Phantom, Phantasm. Ghost is the old word for the disembodied spirit, especially as appearing to man: as, the ghost of Hamlet's father; the ghost of Banquo. Shade is a soft and poetic word for ghost: as, the shade of Creüsa appeared to Æneas. An apparition is a ghost as appearing to sight, perhaps suddenly or unexpectedly; it may also be a fancied appearance, while a ghost is supposed to be real: as, Jupiter made a cloud into an apparition of Juno; Macbeth saw an apparition of a dagger; the witches showed him an apparition of a crowned child. A specter is an alarming or horrifying preternatural personal appearance, having less individuality, perhaps, than a ghost or shade, but more than an apparition necessarily has. A phantom has an apparent, not a real, existence; it differs from a phantasm in emphasizing the unreality simply and in representing a single object, while phantasm emphasizes the deception put upon the mind, and may include more than one object.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The spirit; the soul of man.
  • noun The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death; an apparition; a specter.
  • noun Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image; a phantom; a glimmering
  • noun A false image formed in a telescope by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a large European moth (Hepialus humuli); so called from the white color of the male, and the peculiar hovering flight; -- called also great swift.
  • noun the Holy Spirit; the Paraclete; the Comforter; (Theol.) the third person in the Trinity.
  • noun to die; to expire.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To die; to expire.
  • transitive verb obsolete To appear to or haunt in the form of an apparition.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rare The spirit; the soul of man.
  • noun The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death; an apparition; a specter.
  • noun Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image; a phantom; a glimmering.
  • noun A false image formed in a telescope, camera, or other optical device by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, breath, spirit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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").

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Examples

  • The term "ghost winery" refers to places that were started in the mid- to late 19th century, a time when the California wine industry was booming, but were abandoned in the early 20th century.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • “As God is my witness,” I growl, “if you say the word ghost again, I will find a way to drown you in my shot glass.”

    Soul Trapper F. J. Lennon 2011

  • “As God is my witness,” I growl, “if you say the word ghost again, I will find a way to drown you in my shot glass.”

    Soul Trapper F. J. Lennon 2011

  • ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: John, well, you guys have used the term ghost town.

    CNN Transcript Sep 1, 2008 2008

  • We told you what the term ghost riding - this is kind of drivers on a dare here.

    CNN Transcript Jan 6, 2007 2007

  • Gabriel and Michael Corrigan thought that their father was killed by the Tabula, but now there are signs that his ghost is alive.

    John Twelve Hawks - An interview with author 2010

  • It's almost as if you may have "cooties" by saying the word "ghost" and '"I saw" in the same sentence.

    Alexandra Holzer: Rich or Famous, Dead or Alive... Nothing Is Perfect Alexandra Holzer 2012

  • It's almost as if you may have "cooties" by saying the word "ghost" and '"I saw" in the same sentence.

    Alexandra Holzer: Rich or Famous, Dead or Alive... Nothing Is Perfect Alexandra Holzer 2012

  • She was excited because Valentina had actually used the word ghost.

    Her Fearful Symmetry AUDREY NIFFENEGGER 2009

  • Before the elections, I wanted to push the Afghan institutions -- and we were there to support Afghan institutions -- to eliminate what I call the ghost polling centers.

    CNN Transcript Oct 2, 2009 2009

  • In some places, the team found evidence of “ghost fishing”, in which discarded fishing nets become stuck in the reefs and continue to trap and kill fish.

    Striking images show plastic litter in the world’s most remote coral reefs Katharine Sanderson 2023

  • Ghost kitchens are delivery only restaurants with no facilities for dine-in customers.

    Why sightings of ghost kitchens are on the rise gqlshare 2020

  • Thousands of restaurants are experimenting with these virtual spinoffs tucked inside their own kitchens. Others are opening “ghost kitchens,” where all food is prepared to-go.Both concepts have emerged to capitalize on the rising popularity of ordering out instead of dining in. The trend also speaks to the growing power of third-party delivery companies, which have transformed the way many people find restaurants and raised expectations for speed and convenience.

    The rise of 'ghost kitchens': Here's what the online food ordering boom has produced Alexandra Olson 2019

  • The shift has popularized two types of digital culinary establishments. One is “virtual restaurants,” which are attached to real-life restaurants like Mr. Lopez’s Top Round but make different cuisines specifically for the delivery apps. The other is “ghost kitchens,” which have no retail presence and essentially serve as a meal preparation hub for delivery orders.

    The Rise of the Virtual Restaurant By 2019

Comments

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  • "Great Caesar's ghost!" is a traditional exclamation of surprise.

    June 13, 2009

  • "It is asserted that the spelling of "ghost" with the silent letter h was adopted by Caxton due to the influence of Flemish spelling habits."

    -- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Caxton&oldid=773251278

    April 7, 2017

  • A number of contacts said that they had been "ghosted," a situation in which a worker stops coming to work without notice and then is impossible to contact.
    Federal Reserve Board Beige Book - Dec. 5, 2018

    National data on economic “ghosting” is lacking. The term, which usually applies to dating, first surfaced in 2016 on Dictionary.com. But companies across the country say silent exits are on the rise.

    . . .

    Some employees are simply young and restless, said James Cooper, former manager of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone Park, where he said people ghosted regularly.

    A few of his staffers were college students who lived in park dormitories for the summer.

    “My favorite,” he said, “was a kid who left a note on the floor in his dorm room that said ‘sorry bros, had to ghost.’ ”

    Danielle Paqquette, Workers Are Ghosting Their Employers Like Bad Dates, Wash. Post (Dec. 12, 2018)

    December 17, 2018