Definitions

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

  • noun Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; a ghost or apparition.
  • noun An image that appears only in the mind; an illusion.
  • noun Medicine A model of a human body or body part.
  • adjective Resembling, characteristic of, or being a phantom.
  • adjective Fictitious or nonexistent, often when intended to deceive.
  • adjective Believed to be real even though illusory.
  • adjective Being a phantom limb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A phantom crystal.
  • noun A map or diagram of the magnetic field made by strewing iron filings upon a plate of glass-or other smooth surface and allowing them to arrange themselves along the lines of force.
  • noun Appearance merely; illusion; unreality; fancy; delusion; deception; deceit.
  • noun A phantasm; a specter or apparition; an imagined vision; an optical illusion.
  • noun Same as manikin, 2.
  • Apparent merely; illusive; spectral; ghostly: as, a phantom ship.

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

  • noun That which has only an apparent existence; an apparition; a specter; a phantasm; a sprite; an airy spirit; an ideal image.
  • noun See Flying Dutchman, under Flying.
  • noun (Med.) a swelling, especially of the abdomen, due to muscular spasm, accumulation of flatus, etc., simulating an actual tumor in appearance, but disappearing upon the administration of an anæsthetic.
  • adjective Being, or of the nature of, a phantom.

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

  • noun Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; a ghost or apparition; something elusive or delusive.
  • noun An image that appears only in the mind; an illusion.
  • adjective illusive
  • adjective fictitious or nonexistent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a ghostly appearing figure
  • noun something existing in perception only
  • adjective something apparently sensed but having no physical reality

Etymologies

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

[Middle English fantom, from Old French fantosme, probably from Vulgar Latin *phantauma, from Greek dialectal *phantagma, from Greek phantasma; see phantasm.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English fantom, fantum, from Old French fantosme, from Latin phantasma, from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phantasma).

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Examples

  • At Jacques Torres , chocolatier clerk Katie Bast admits to seeding the tip jar with what she called "phantom dollars"—money from her own pocket.

    Tip the Iceberg Anne Kadet 2011

  • But he didn't know that Xerox created what it called a "phantom account" for his 1985 payout, credited it with hypothetical interest pegged to stock-market returns—often in the double digits—and subtracted the total from his pension.

    When Benefits Bite Back Ellen E. Schultz 2011

  • We were also given what they call phantom stock for bonuses at the end of the year when we had a good profitable year.

    CNN Transcript Jul 7, 2006 2006

  • It documents what it calls phantom aid that's pledged by the US and other countries but never shows up.

    Afghanistan - The Other Lost War 2006

  • I remember on Saturday I started to feel a little bit of what they call phantom pain and it was very freaky.

    Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton 2004

  • I remember on Saturday I started to feel a little bit of what they call phantom pain and it was very freaky.

    Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton 2004

  • The party says Canadians may be paying up to $20 million a year for what it calls "phantom gas".

    Thestar.com - Home Page 2011

  • Now, after more than two and a half years of war, we on the other side know that the "phantom" is a grim and bloody reality, for we have known the hellish horrors which it perpetrates not only in battle, but in the peaceful villages and country.

    The Prussian Mind 1917

  • That he had never heard the word phantom connected to the phrase was an unusual tribute to Vanko’s reputation.

    The Big Scam Paul Lindsay 2005

  • I think avoiding litigation or physical assault by the ‘exposed party’ could be a mitigating factor in phantom writing.

    Who wrote that trashy celeb memoir? 2009

Comments

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  • phantastic word, mysterious; never seen, but always there and appearing just when you do not ecpect it!!!!!

    January 25, 2008

  • Zorro. See A Horse is a Horse

    February 1, 2008

  • i use this word as a verb -- use it to replace the (extremely boring) word disappear.

    ex: 'pulled a phantom last night' ... 'sorry i phantomed on ya...'

    February 21, 2011

  • I remember references to 'Peter the Phantom Puller', the offscreen hand who slid panels aside, on the game show Blankety Blanks. Many moons ago.

    I wish I did not remember this.

    February 21, 2011