I. ˈspük sometimes ˈspu̇k noun
( -s )
Etymology: Dutch, from Middle Dutch spooc; akin to Middle Low German spōk ghost
1. : ghost , specter , apparition , hobgoblin
the strange spook … crept out of heaven on a windless night — S.V.Benét
specifically : an apparition in a spiritualistic séance
became a spiritualist, believing in the power of spooks — American Mercury
2. slang : a queer or strange person : oddball
a blind date? What is she, a real spook — Oakley Hall
3. slang : ghost-writer
a writer signed to do the movie script as the spook — Louis Messolonghites
professional spook … to ghostwrite a novel — David Dempsey
4. slang : negro
what's a spook ? A Negro — like me — Robert Lowry
stop talking like a spook … I mean stop talking like most colored folks — Langston Hughes
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to inhabit or visit as a spook : haunt
forces that spook the old world — W.M.Meredith
2.
a. : to stir up or excite (as a horse or steer) especially by frightening
if you come up too fast and spook a deer it takes off — R.E.Maw
the entire herd got spooked and stampeded into the mountains — H.W.Anderson
b. slang : to frighten (a person) often so as to make run, freeze, or tremble : scare
too shrewd a detective to spook the pair with direct questions — Chris Edwards
those kids had me spooked all right … they wanted to kill somebody — Ernest Hemingway
3. slang : ghostwrite
spooked the reminiscences of the actor
intransitive verb
: to flee, scramble, tremble, stampede, or balk as a result of fright
wolves would spook as the plane flew over — Alaska Sportsman
III. noun
: an undercover agent : spy