ghost n
1. a mental representation of some haunting experience; "he looked like he had seen a ghost"; "it aroused specters from his past" [syn: shade, spook, wraith, specter, spectre]
2. a writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else [syn: ghostwriter]
3. the visible disembodied soul of a dead person
4. a suggestion of some quality; "there was a touch of sarcasm in his tone"; "he detected a ghost of a smile on her face" [syn: touch, trace] v
5. move like a ghost; "The masked men ghosted across the moonlit yard"
6. haunt like a ghost; pursue; "Fear of illness haunts her" [syn: haunt, obsess]
7. write for someone else; "How many books have you ghostwritten so far?" [syn: ghostwrite]

Ghost \Ghost\, n. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. g[=a]st breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g?st spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
1. The spirit; the soul of man. [Obs.] Then gives her grieved ghost thus to lament. --Spenser.
2. The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death; an apparition; a specter. The mighty ghosts of our great Harrys rose. --Shak. I thought that I had died in sleep, And was a blessed ghost. --Coleridge.
3. Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image; a phantom; a glimmering; as, not a ghost of a chance; the ghost of an idea. Each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. --Poe.
4. A false image formed in a telescope by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses. Ghost moth (Zo["o]l.), a large European moth (Hepialus humuli)}; so called from the white color of the male, and the peculiar hovering flight; -- called also great swift}. Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit; the Paraclete; the Comforter; (Theol.) the third person in the Trinity. To give up or yield up the ghost, to die; to expire. And he gave up the ghost full softly. --Chaucer.

A ghost is considered to be the spirit of a dead person. Scientists say that there are no real ghosts, but many people believe that there are.

There are many stories about ghosts in books and movies. Sometimes the ghost is the spirit of a person who was killed by enemies or who died in a scary way. The ghost may stay on Earth because he or she is angry due to some problem in life and wants to scare people or to harm his or her enemies. Sometimes ghosts are said to live in a particular locality, for example an abandoned house, and when occupants come they tease them to drive away or cause serious damage to the occupants.

Sometimes the ghosts in these stories exist because of some problem the person had during life, that was not solved before he or she died. The ghost stays on the Earth trying to fix the problem. If the problem is fixed, the ghost can leave the Earth. Many ghosts stay on Earth also because they have died younger or have had sudden or abrupt deaths. Many people claim to have seen or heard ghosts. People who try to talk to ghosts as their job are called Mediums.

• Ghost Words
  The letter smelled of lavender and vanilla, like she couldn't decide which perfume to use so she used both. Her hand-writing had been drawn with the careful precision only seventh-grade girls in love have patience for. Read more on this news related to 'Ghost'
• Ghost Ships, Murders, Bird Attacks: Stories To Keep You Awake
  Author Ethan Rutherford started reading Daphne du Maurier's collection of stories, Don't Look Now, while it was still light out and didn't move from his chair until dark. Each one features characters who endure the strange and the extreme, and who are forever changed by the events that befall them. Read more on this news related to 'Ghost'
• Thai ghost film remake appeals with funny twist
  BANGKOK (AP) — Thais' deep affection for ghost stories and laughter has brought a new phenomenon to movie theaters — comic touches added to an oft-told tragedy of true love, which have made the latest adaptation of the Mae Nak legend into the all-time highest-grossing Thai film. Read more on this news related to 'Ghost'