( BrE ) ( AmE specter ) noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ grim ( esp. BrE ), ominous
▪
The grim ~ of terrorism cast its shadow.
▪ old
▪ constant
▪ looming
▪
the looming ~ of a financial crisis
▪ twin
▪
the twin ~s of addiction and violence
VERB + SPECTRE/SPECTER
▪ evoke , invoke , raise
▪
Wall Street's collapse raised ~s of the 1987 stock-market crash.
▪ face , see
▪ banish , exorcize
▪
an attempt to exorcize the ~ of poverty
SPECTRE/SPECTER + VERB
▪ hang over sb/sth , haunt sb/sth , hover over sb/sth , loom , loom over sb/sth
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ of
▪
The terrible ~ of civil war hung over the country once again.