¹ghost

noun \ˈgōst\

: the soul of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as appearing to living people

: a very small amount or trace

Full Definition of GHOST

: the seat of life or intelligence : soul <give up the ghost>

: a disembodied soul; especially : the soul of a dead person believed to be an inhabitant of the unseen world or to appear to the living in bodily likeness

: spirit, demon

a : a faint shadowy trace <a ghost of a smile>

b : the least bit <not a ghost of a chance>

: a false image in a photographic negative or on a television screen caused especially by reflection

: one who ghostwrites

: a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin

— ghost·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

— ghosty \ˈgō-stē\ adjective

See ghost defined for English-language learners

See ghost defined for kids

Origin of GHOST

Middle English gost, gast, from Old English gāst; akin to Old High German geist spirit, Sanskrit heḍa anger

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to GHOST

Synonyms: apparition, bogey (also bogie or bogy), familiar spirit, hant [dialect], haunt [chiefly dialect], materialization, phantasm (also fantasm), phantom, poltergeist, shade, shadow, specter (or spectre), spirit, spook, sprite, vision, visitant, wraith

Other Occult Terms

augury, censor, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, weird, wraith

Rhymes with GHOST

boast, coast, host, most, oast, post, roast, toast

²ghost

verb

Definition of GHOST

transitive verb

: to haunt like a ghost

: ghostwrite

intransitive verb

a : to move silently like a ghost

b : to sail quietly in light winds

: ghostwrite

See ghost defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of GHOST

1606

GHOSTLIKE Defined for Kids

ghost

noun \ˈgōst\

Definition of GHOST for Kids

: the spirit of a dead person thought of as living in an unseen world or as appearing to living people

Medical Dictionary

ghost

noun \ˈgōst\

Medical Definition of GHOST

: a structure (as a cell or tissue) that does not stain normally because of degenerative changes; specifically : a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin