ghost shipn.2
/ˈɡəʊs(t) ʃɪp/, U.S. /ˈɡoʊs(t) ˌʃɪp/ 1. An apparition of a spectral or phantasmal ship, the sighting of which is often regarded as an ill omen. Cf. ghost train n. 2a.
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1806 T. Moore Epistles, Odes 321 The above lines were suggested by a superstition very common among sailors, who call this ghost-ship, I think, ‘the flying Dutch-man’.
1908 Strand Mag. Jan. 66/1 The rocky coasts of New England are haunted by several ghost ships. Of these the spectre of the Palatine is the best known, and her appearance..is generally recognised..as a forewarning of disastrous storm.
2016 Bangor (Maine) Daily News (Nexis) 28 Oct. Appearing often at Lookout Point or Pott's Point, the ghost ship..was said to indicate a local death was imminent.
2. A boat or other sea vessel drifting without any people, or with only dead bodies, on board.
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1929 Pop. Mech. Dec. 942/2 There..are ‘ghost ships’... A Dutch liner..reported boarding a tramp steamer.., which seemed derelict. The only living creature they found on board was a big retriever dog, frantic with fear.
1979 Boys' Life Nov. 15/1 Because of the strange details surrounding its crew's disappearance..the Mary Celeste is probably the most famous ‘ghost ship’ of all time.
2020 Waikato Times (Hamilton, N.Z.) (Nexis) 25 July 8 North Korean fishermen...have been driven by the competition to more distant waters off Russia, for which their rickety vessels are unsuited... This explains the disturbing phenomenon of ‘ghost ships’—fishing vessels that drift ashore, either empty or containing decaying and sometimes mummified corpses.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.21806- to roll them bones
- to roll together
- to roll up
- to roll up and down
- to roll up one's sleeves
- to roll up the sidewalks
- to roll upon
- to roll with the punches
- to romp it
- to room in
- to rope down
- to rope in
- to rope into
- to rot about
- to rot the socks off
- to rough down
- to rough in
- to rough it
- to rough it out
- to rough it up
- to rough off
- to rough out
- to rough up
- to rouk and round
- to round a pistle in a person's ear