ghost

noun

/ɡəʊst/

Idioms

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[countable] the spirit of a dead person that a living person believes they can see or hear
- Do you believe in ghosts (= believe that they exist)?
- ghost of somebody The ghost of her father had come back to haunt her.
- He looked as if he had seen a ghost (= looked very frightened)
- The ghost hunters have so far found nothing.
Extra Examples
- A priest was called in to exorcize the ghost.
- He looked as pale as a ghost as he climbed out of the wrecked car.
- The ghost of a hanged man is said to haunt the house.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
verb + ghost
- see
- believe in
- conjure
- …
ghost + verb
- appear
- haunt something
- walk
- …
ghost + noun
- story
preposition
- ghost of
phrases
- as pale as a ghost
- as white as a ghost
See full entry
[countable] the memory of something, especially something bad
- The ghost of anti-Semitism still haunts Europe.
[singular] ghost of something a very slight amount of something that is left behind or that you are not sure really exists
- There was a ghost of a smile on his face.
- You don't have a ghost of a chance (= you have no chance).
[singular] a second image on a television screen that is not as clear as the first, caused by a fault

Word OriginOld English gāst (in the sense ‘spirit, soul’), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch geest and German Geist. The gh- spelling occurs first in Caxton, probably influenced by Flemish gheest.

Idioms

be a shadow/ghost of your former self

to not have the strength, influence, etc. that you used to have
- When his career ended, he became a shadow of his former self.

give up the ghost

to die
(humorous) (of a machine) to stop working
- My car finally gave up the ghost.

ghost

verb

/ɡəʊst/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they ghost	/ɡəʊst/ /ɡəʊst/
he / she / it ghosts	/ɡəʊsts/ /ɡəʊsts/
past simple ghosted	/ˈɡəʊstɪd/ /ˈɡəʊstɪd/
past participle ghosted	/ˈɡəʊstɪd/ /ˈɡəʊstɪd/
-ing form ghosting	/ˈɡəʊstɪŋ/ /ˈɡəʊstɪŋ/

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(also ghostwrite)
[transitive, usually passive, intransitive] to write a book, an article, etc. for another person who publishes it as their own work
[intransitive] + adv./prep. (literary) to move without making a sound
- They ghosted up the smooth waters of the river.
[transitive] ghost somebody to suddenly stop all communication with somebody, usually online, in order to end a relationship
- I'd never before heard of a husband ghosting his wife.
- When you're ghosted, it's difficult, because you may hang on to false hope.