ghost

(gōst)

1. The spirit of a dead person, especially one believed to appear in bodily likeness to living persons or to haunt former habitats.
2. The center of spiritual life; the soul.
3. A demon or spirit.
4. A returning or haunting memory or image.
5. a. A slight or faint trace: just a ghost of a smile.
   b. The tiniest bit: not a ghost of a chance.
6. A faint, false image, as:
   a. A secondary image on a television or radar screen caused by reflected waves.
   b. A displaced image in a photograph caused by the optical system of the camera.
   c. A false spectral line caused by imperfections in the diffraction grating.
   d. A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass.
7. Informal A ghostwriter.
8. a. A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies.
   b. A fictitious employee or business.
9. Physiology A red blood cell having no hemoglobin.

1. Informal To engage in ghostwriting.
2. To move noiselessly like a ghost: “Two young deer ghosted out of the woods” (Nancy M. Debevoise).

1. To haunt.
2. Informal To ghostwrite: was hired to ghost the memoirs of a famous executive.

Related Forms:

• ghostˈy adjective