I. ˈgōst noun
Etymology: Middle English gost, gast, from Old English gāst; akin to Old High German geist spirit, Sanskrit heḍa anger
Date: before 12th century
1. : the seat of life or intelligence : soul
give up the ghost
2. : a disembodied soul ; especially : the soul of a dead person believed to be an inhabitant of the unseen world or to appear to the living in bodily likeness
3. : spirit , demon
4.
a. : a faint shadowy trace
a ghost of a smile
b. : the least bit
not a ghost of a chance
5. : a false image in a photographic negative or on a television screen caused especially by reflection
6. : one who ghostwrites
7. : a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin
• ghost·like -ˌlīk adjective
• ghosty ˈgō-stē adjective
II. verb
Date: 1606
transitive verb
1. : to haunt like a ghost
2. : ghostwrite
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to move silently like a ghost
b. : to sail quietly in light winds
2. : ghostwrite