Meaning of "ghost" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD GHOST

Old English gāst; related to Old Frisian jēst, Old High German geist spirit, Sanskrit hēda fury, anger.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF GHOST

ghost  [ɡəʊst]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF GHOST

Ghost is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb ghost in English.

WHAT DOES GHOST MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Ghost

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost (sometimes known as a spectre (British English) or specter (American English), phantom, apparition or spook) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.

Definition of ghost in the English dictionary

The first definition of ghost in the dictionary is the disembodied spirit of a dead person, supposed to haunt the living as a pale or shadowy vision; phantom related adjective spectral. Other definition of ghost is a haunting memory. Ghost is also a faint trace or possibility of something; glimmer.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO GHOST

PRESENT

Present

I ghost

you ghost

he/she/it ghosts

we ghost

you ghost

they ghost

Present continuous

I am ghosting

you are ghosting

he/she/it is ghosting

we are ghosting

you are ghosting

they are ghosting

Present perfect

I have ghosted

you have ghosted

he/she/it has ghosted

we have ghosted

you have ghosted

they have ghosted

Present perfect continuous

I have been ghosting

you have been ghosting

he/she/it has been ghosting

we have been ghosting

you have been ghosting

they have been ghosting

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I ghosted

you ghosted

he/she/it ghosted

we ghosted

you ghosted

they ghosted

Past continuous

I was ghosting

you were ghosting

he/she/it was ghosting

we were ghosting

you were ghosting

they were ghosting

Past perfect

I had ghosted

you had ghosted

he/she/it had ghosted

we had ghosted

you had ghosted

they had ghosted

Past perfect continuous

I had been ghosting

you had been ghosting

he/she/it had been ghosting

we had been ghosting

you had been ghosting

they had been ghosting

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will ghost

you will ghost

he/she/it will ghost

we will ghost

you will ghost

they will ghost

Future continuous

I will be ghosting

you will be ghosting

he/she/it will be ghosting

we will be ghosting

you will be ghosting

they will be ghosting

Future perfect

I will have ghosted

you will have ghosted

he/she/it will have ghosted

we will have ghosted

you will have ghosted

they will have ghosted

Future perfect continuous

I will have been ghosting

you will have been ghosting

he/she/it will have been ghosting

we will have been ghosting

you will have been ghosting

they will have been ghosting

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would ghost

you would ghost

he/she/it would ghost

we would ghost

you would ghost

they would ghost

Conditional continuous

I would be ghosting

you would be ghosting

he/she/it would be ghosting

we would be ghosting

you would be ghosting

they would be ghosting

Conditional perfect

I would have ghost

you would have ghost

he/she/it would have ghost

we would have ghost

you would have ghost

they would have ghost

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been ghosting

you would have been ghosting

he/she/it would have been ghosting

we would have been ghosting

you would have been ghosting

they would have been ghosting

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you ghost
we let´s ghost
you ghost

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to ghost

Past participle

ghosted

Present Participle

ghosting

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «GHOST»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «ghost» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of ghost

apparition · atua · eidolon · glimmer · hint · kehua · manes · phantasm · phantom · revenant · semblance · shade · shadow · soul · spectre · spirit · spook · suggestion · suspicion · trace · wairua · wraith

TRANSLATION OF GHOST

Find out the translation of ghost to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of ghost from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «ghost» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 鬼
• Translator English - Spanish: fantasma
• English: ghost
• Translator English - Hindi: भूत
• Translator English - Arabic: شَبَح
• Translator English - Russian: привидение
• Translator English - Portuguese: fantasma
• Translator English - Bengali: প্রেতাত্মা
• Translator English - French: fantôme
• Translator English - Malay: Hantu
• Translator English - German: Geist
• Translator English - Japanese: 幽霊
• Translator English - Korean: 유령
• Translator English - Javanese: Ghost
• Translator English - Vietnamese: ma
• Translator English - Tamil: பேய்
• Translator English - Marathi: भूत
• Translator English - Turkish: hayalet
• Translator English - Italian: fantasma
• Translator English - Polish: duch
• Translator English - Ukrainian: привид
• Translator English - Romanian: fantomă
• Translator English - Greek: φάντασμα
• Translator English - Afrikaans: spook
• Translator English - Swedish: spöke
• Translator English - Norwegian: spøkelse

10 QUOTES WITH «GHOST»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word ghost.

1

Jack Henry Abbott

As long as I am nothing but a ghost of the civil dead, I can do nothing.

2

Brian Aldiss

Science fiction is no more written for scientists that ghost stories are written for ghosts.

3

Keegan Allen

When I was in high school, my friends and I would drive out into the country to abandoned houses and structures... haha... to ghost hunt. We would scare each other so bad! We would sometimes camp out by the abandoned buildings just to scare ourselves! Such good times. The adrenaline of real fear is so cool!

4

Mary Hunter Austin

Over the tops of it, beginning to dusk under a young white moon, trailed a wavering ghost of smoke, and at the end of it I came upon the Pocket Hunter making a dry camp in the friendly scrub.

5

Dan Aykroyd

Have I personally ever seen a ghost? Not one.

6

Bipasha Basu

As a child, I was a brat, and my parents didn't know how to control me. So they told me ghost stories, which stayed with me. I am still petrified of darkness and being alone.

7

Emma Bell

I love really, really deep, dark-as-Russia storylines. I love supernatural aspects. I grew up with ghost stories.

8

Anne Boleyn

O Death, rock me asleep, bring me to quiet rest, let pass my weary guiltless ghost out of my careful breast.

9

John Boyne

Throughout my teenage years, I read 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens every December. It was a story that never failed to excite me, for as well as being a Dickens enthusiast, I have always loved ghost stories.

10

Libba Bray

I love to be scared. Not, 'Hey, I think I smell smoke...' scared, but creepy, paranoid, what's-that-out-there-in-the-dark, ghost story scared. It's no surprise that I was the girl who got invited to the slumber parties because I could be counted on to tell a tale to scare the bejesus out of you.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «GHOST»

Discover the use of ghost in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to ghost and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road

The book will be sold as part of the band's official merchandise during its 47-city American tour. 20 photos. 15 maps.

Neil Peart, 2002

Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent

One of America's most experienced agents offers a glimpse inside the shadowy world of counterrorism to reveal life on the frontlines of the war on terrorism, detailing his experiences with the Diplomatic Security Service in every area of ...

Fred Burton, 2009

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted ...

Ghost in the Wires is a thrilling true story of intrigue, suspense, and unbelievable escape, and a portrait of a visionary whose creativity, skills, and persistence forced the authorities to rethink the way they pursued him, inspiring ...

Kevin Mitnick, 2011

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism ...

Adam Hochschild brings this largely untold story alive with the wit and skill of a Barbara Tuchman. Like her, he knows that history often provides a far richer cast of characters than any novelist could invent.

Adam Hochschild, 1999

The Blue Ghost

Liz opens her eyes. There is a blue ghost in her room! What does the ghost want from her? This exciting mystery by Newbery Honor writer Marion Dane Bauer is perfect for first chapter-book readers. From the Hardcover edition.

Marion Dane Bauer, 2009

Ghost Story

Questions arise concerning the connections between a strangely detached young girl's captivity in a seedy Florida motel, a death that occurs at a party for a visiting actress, and a young California instructor's obsession with one of his ...

Peter Straub, 1979

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and ...

The news-breaking book that has sent schockwaves through the White House, Ghost Wars is the most accurate and revealing account yet of the CIA's secret involvement in al-Qaeada's evolution.

Steve Coll, 2005

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall

When twelve-year-old Florence boards the crowded horse-drawn coach in London, she looks forward to a new life with her great uncle and aunt at Crutchfield Hall, an old manor house in the English countryside.

Mary Downing Hahn, 2010

The Ghost Sitter

. . . "Has several strong appeals: new best friends solving a mystery together, a just-scary-enough ghost girl, and a deathless bond between sisters that provides the book with its resoundingly satisfying conclusion." (The Horn Book)

Peni R. Griffin, 2002

Classic Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories

The unquiet souls of the dead, both as fictional creations and as 'real' apparitions, roam the pages of this haunting selection of ghost stories by Rex Collings.

Rex Collings, 2008

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «GHOST»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term ghost is used in the context of the following news items.

'Ghost' Still Haunts Us 25 Years Later

As a romantic weepie and suspense thriller, buttressed by big Hollywood glamor, 'Ghost' has lingered long after its ascent into heavenly light. «Biography, Jul 15»

Ghost signs and derelict buildings reveal clues about Melbourne's …

Derelict buildings and ghost signs in Melbourne's suburbs are being rediscovered in one man's quest for clues about the city's social history. «ABC Local, Jul 15»

'Reem Island Ghost' executed for killing American teacher

Hashemi carried out the attacked shrouded in a full black veil and gloves, earning her the nickname of the 'Reem Island Ghost'. She was also ... «ArabianBusiness.com, Jul 15»

Gloucester's 'ghost walk lady' Lyn Cinderey announces retirement

But now the future of Gloucester's Ghost Walks hangs in the balance after the city's very own 'ghost lady' Lyn Cinderey has announced her ... «Gloucester Citizen, Jul 15»

An Elegant, Criminal Ghost: Omari Hardwick on Poetry, Power and …

Omari Hardwick's James “Ghost” St. Patrick might be reminiscent of the ghosts of beloved characters past. Tony Soprano, Stringer Bell, and ... «Paste Magazine, Jul 15»

Hertford film company Ghost Media's TV ambition gets rolling

A Film company is plotting its big break on the small screen and wants to share the journey with Mercury land movie buffs. Ghost Media ... «Hertfordshire Mercury, Jul 15»

Decades-old Holy Ghost tradition marches on in Taunton

Regalia, religion and soup marked the final day of the Holy Ghost Feast in Taunton, capping off a tradition that has been observed for more ... «Taunton Daily Gazette, Jul 15»

Power: “Who You Are And Who You Want To Be”

With Angela now aware that “Jamie” is Ghost, the two are pitched against each other in battle. Though Angela saw Holly's refusal to give up ... «A.V. Club DC, Jul 15»

'Ghost' photos bring war past back to life

A group of historians has brought war time Bridlington to life in a series of dramatic pictures depicting bombed-out locations in the town. «Bridlington Today, Jul 15»

Ghost of 460 looms over new Va. transportation deals like I-66

WASHINGTON — As Virginia considers whether to build new toll lanes on Interstate 66 using a full public-private partnership, the specter of ... «WTOP, Jul 15»