Ghosts

ghost

G0112700 (gōst) n. 1. The spirit of a dead person, especially one that is believed to appear to the living in bodily form or to haunt specific locations. 2. A person's spirit or soul: was sick for months and finally gave up the ghost. 3. A returning or haunting memory or image. 4. a. A slight or faint trace: just a ghost of a smile. b. The tiniest bit: not a ghost of a chance. 5. A faint, unwanted image, as: a. An unwanted 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. An unwanted spectral line caused by imperfections in a diffraction grating. d. A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass. 6. Informal A ghostwriter. 7. a. A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies. b. A fictitious employee or business. 8. Physiology A red blood cell having no hemoglobin. v. ghost·ed, ghost·ing, ghosts v. intr. 1. Informal To engage in ghostwriting. 2. To move noiselessly like a ghost: "Two young deer ghosted out of the woods" (Nancy M. Debevoise). 3. Informal To cut off all communication with someone, especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation: ghosted on him after two dates. v. tr. 1. To haunt. 2. Informal To ghostwrite: was hired to ghost the memoirs of a famous executive. 3. Informal To cut off all communication with (someone), especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation: "In some point in nearly every young millennial's life, they will be ghosted. And not by sad dead bodies from the graveyard, but by idiot living ones from the Internet" (Heather Dockray).

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

ghost′y adj.

Ghosts

See also demons; spirits and spiritualism.
Doppelgänger, doublegangera supposedly ghostly counterpart or double of a living person.eidolisma belief in ghosts.eidolona phantom or apparition.phantasma vision or other perception of something that has no physical or objective reality, especially in the sense of a ghost or other supernatural apparition. Also phantasma. See also images; philosophy.phantasmologyspectrology.phasmophobiaan abnormal fear of ghosts.sciomancyfortunetelling through communication with the spirits of the dead. — sciomantic, adj.sciotheisma religion in which ghosts are worshiped instead of gods.spectrologythe study of ghosts, phantoms, or apparitions. Also called phantasmology, spookology. — spectrological, adj.spectrophobiaan abnormal fear of specters or phantoms.spookologyspectrology.supernaturalism1. the condition or quality of existing outside the known experience of man or caused by forces beyond those of nature.
2. belief in supernatural events or forces. Also supranaturalism. — supernaturalist, n., adj. — supernatural, supernaturalistic, adj.supranaturalismsupernaturalism. — supranaturalist, n., adj. — supranatural, supranaturalistic, adj.

Ghosts

Spirits of many kinds haunt the Christmas folklore of northern Europe. Some folklorists believe that in ancient times the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples associated the midwinter Yule festival with the return of the dead. Old tales tell of a band of ghosts called the Wild Hunt that charged through the nighttime sky during the Twelve Days of Christmas. In Norway, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania old folk beliefs concerning the Christmas time visits of the dead linger on. In the German region of Bavaria, some people believe that restless spirits walk abroad during the Knocking Nights, the Thursday nights in Advent. In Estonia, Germany, and Lithuania some people visit family graves on Christmas Eve, leaving behind lit candles (see also Christmas Candles).

In the German-speaking lands Berchta, too, wandered through the long, dark evenings. Elves peeked out from behind trees and beneath footstools in many countries. In others, trolls lumbered and witches flitted through the darkness. In Scandinavia the Jultomten appeared each year at Christmas time. In Iceland the closely related Christmas Lads played pranks on householders. Far to the south the kallikantzari vexed Greek families. In England as well, certain folk beliefs warned that ghosts and other supernatural creatures lurked in the long shadows of the Twelve Days.

England

One old English tradition called for the telling of ghost stories at Christmas time. Perhaps this custom developed out of ancient beliefs concerning the return of the dead during the Yule festival. Indeed, in the eighth century St. Bede (c. 672-735), a scholarly English monk, wrote that the Anglo-Saxon people left food on their tables overnight during the Christmas season so that visiting spirits could partake of the feast. In spite of these yearly visits, it took the English Christmas ghost another millennia to achieve notoriety. One man, English author Charles Dickens, brought this to pass. His Christmas ghost story, A Christmas Carol, became perhaps the most well known and best-loved Christmas tale of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Contemporary readers tend to experience A Christmas Carol as a story about the meaning of Christmas. Nevertheless, Dickens also intended his readers to approach A Christmas Carol as a ghost story. He draws our attention to the ghostly aspect of the tale in its full title, which reads A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story ofChristmas. The preface continues the ghost theme in a humorous vein: "I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book to raise the Ghost of an Idea which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it." Finally, Dickens urged his audience to read the Carol out loud, in a cold room by candlelight. Dickens so enjoyed ghost stories that he wrote a number of them over the years, including several more Christmas ghost stories, such as "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton," "The Haunted Man," "The Haunted House," and "A Christmas Tree."

Further Reading

Cramer, Kathryn, and David G. Hartwell. Christmas Ghosts. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Crippen, Thomas G. Christmas and Christmas Lore. 1923. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990. Dickens, Charles. The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens. Peter Haining, ed. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983. Miles, Clement A. Christmas in Ritual and Tradition. 1912. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990.

单词	ghosts
释义	Ghosts ghost G0112700 (gōst) n. 1. The spirit of a dead person, especially one that is believed to appear to the living in bodily form or to haunt specific locations. 2. A person's spirit or soul: was sick for months and finally gave up the ghost. 3. A returning or haunting memory or image. 4. a. A slight or faint trace: just a ghost of a smile. b. The tiniest bit: not a ghost of a chance. 5. A faint, unwanted image, as: a. An unwanted 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. An unwanted spectral line caused by imperfections in a diffraction grating. d. A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass. 6. Informal A ghostwriter. 7. a. A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies. b. A fictitious employee or business. 8. Physiology A red blood cell having no hemoglobin. v. ghost·ed, ghost·ing, ghosts v. intr. 1. Informal To engage in ghostwriting. 2. To move noiselessly like a ghost: "Two young deer ghosted out of the woods" (Nancy M. Debevoise). 3. Informal To cut off all communication with someone, especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation: ghosted on him after two dates. v. tr. 1. To haunt. 2. Informal To ghostwrite: was hired to ghost the memoirs of a famous executive. 3. Informal To cut off all communication with (someone), especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation: "In some point in nearly every young millennial's life, they will be ghosted. And not by sad dead bodies from the graveyard, but by idiot living ones from the Internet" (Heather Dockray). [Middle English `gost`, from Old English `gāst`, breath, spirit.] ghost′y adj. Ghosts See also demons; spirits and spiritualism. Doppelgänger, doublegangera supposedly ghostly counterpart or double of a living person.eidolisma belief in ghosts.eidolona phantom or apparition.phantasma vision or other perception of something that has no physical or objective reality, especially in the sense of a ghost or other supernatural apparition. Also phantasma. See also images; philosophy.phantasmologyspectrology.phasmophobiaan abnormal fear of ghosts.sciomancyfortunetelling through communication with the spirits of the dead. — sciomantic, adj.sciotheisma religion in which ghosts are worshiped instead of gods.spectrologythe study of ghosts, phantoms, or apparitions. Also called phantasmology, spookology. — spectrological, adj.spectrophobiaan abnormal fear of specters or phantoms.spookologyspectrology.supernaturalism1. the condition or quality of existing outside the known experience of man or caused by forces beyond those of nature. 2. belief in supernatural events or forces. Also supranaturalism. — supernaturalist, n., adj. — supernatural, supernaturalistic, adj.supranaturalismsupernaturalism. — supranaturalist, n., adj. — supranatural, supranaturalistic, adj. IdiomsSeeghost Ghosts Ghosts Spirits of many kinds haunt the Christmas folklore of northern Europe. Some folklorists believe that in ancient times the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples associated the midwinter Yule festival with the return of the dead. Old tales tell of a band of ghosts called the Wild Hunt that charged through the nighttime sky during the Twelve Days of Christmas. In Norway, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania old folk beliefs concerning the Christmas time visits of the dead linger on. In the German region of Bavaria, some people believe that restless spirits walk abroad during the Knocking Nights, the Thursday nights in Advent. In Estonia, Germany, and Lithuania some people visit family graves on Christmas Eve, leaving behind lit candles (see also Christmas Candles). In the German-speaking lands Berchta, too, wandered through the long, dark evenings. Elves peeked out from behind trees and beneath footstools in many countries. In others, trolls lumbered and witches flitted through the darkness. In Scandinavia the Jultomten appeared each year at Christmas time. In Iceland the closely related Christmas Lads played pranks on householders. Far to the south the kallikantzari vexed Greek families. In England as well, certain folk beliefs warned that ghosts and other supernatural creatures lurked in the long shadows of the Twelve Days. England One old English tradition called for the telling of ghost stories at Christmas time. Perhaps this custom developed out of ancient beliefs concerning the return of the dead during the Yule festival. Indeed, in the eighth century St. Bede (c. 672-735), a scholarly English monk, wrote that the Anglo-Saxon people left food on their tables overnight during the Christmas season so that visiting spirits could partake of the feast. In spite of these yearly visits, it took the English Christmas ghost another millennia to achieve notoriety. One man, English author Charles Dickens, brought this to pass. His Christmas ghost story, A Christmas Carol, became perhaps the most well known and best-loved Christmas tale of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Contemporary readers tend to experience A Christmas Carol as a story about the meaning of Christmas. Nevertheless, Dickens also intended his readers to approach A Christmas Carol as a ghost story. He draws our attention to the ghostly aspect of the tale in its full title, which reads A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story ofChristmas. The preface continues the ghost theme in a humorous vein: "I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book to raise the Ghost of an Idea which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it." Finally, Dickens urged his audience to read the Carol out loud, in a cold room by candlelight. Dickens so enjoyed ghost stories that he wrote a number of them over the years, including several more Christmas ghost stories, such as "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton," "The Haunted Man," "The Haunted House," and "A Christmas Tree." Further Reading Cramer, Kathryn, and David G. Hartwell. Christmas Ghosts. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Crippen, Thomas G. Christmas and Christmas Lore. 1923. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990. Dickens, Charles. The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens. Peter Haining, ed. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983. Miles, Clement A. Christmas in Ritual and Tradition. 1912. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990. ghosts ghosts phasmophobia. FinancialSeeGhosting
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