ghost
ghost /g'oʊst/ (ghosts ghosting ghosted)
1 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A ghost is the spirit of a dead person that someone believes they can see or feel.
...the ghost of Marie Antoinette...
The village is haunted by the ghosts of the dead children.
2 [N-COUNT] N of n
The ghost of something, especially of something bad that has happened, is the memory of it.
...the ghost of anti-Americanism.
3 [N-SING] N of n
If there is a ghost of something, that thing is so faint or weak that it hardly exists.
He gave the ghost of a smile...
The sun was warm and there was just a ghost of a breeze from the north-west.
4 [VERB] be V-ed, V n
If a book or other piece of writing is ghosted, it is written by a writer for another person, for example a politician or sportsman, who then publishes it as his or her own work.
I published his autobiography, which was very competently ghosted by a woman journalist from the Daily Mail...
I ghosted his weekly rugby column for the Telegraph.
= ghost-write
5 [PHRASE] v PHR, with neg
If someone does not stand or does not have a ghost of a chance of doing something, they have very little chance of succeeding in it. (INFORMAL)
He doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of selling the house.ghost sto|ry (ghost stories)
[N-COUNT]
A ghost story is a story about ghosts.ghost town (ghost towns)
[N-COUNT]
A ghost town is a town which used to be busy and wealthy but is now poor and deserted.
Mogadishu is said to be a virtual ghost town, deserted by two-thirds of its residents.ghost writ|er (ghost writers)
also ghostwriter
[N-COUNT]
A ghost writer is someone who writes a book or other published work instead of the person who is named as the author.
1 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A ghost is the spirit of a dead person that someone believes they can see or feel.
...the ghost of Marie Antoinette...
The village is haunted by the ghosts of the dead children.
2 [N-COUNT] N of n
The ghost of something, especially of something bad that has happened, is the memory of it.
...the ghost of anti-Americanism.
3 [N-SING] N of n
If there is a ghost of something, that thing is so faint or weak that it hardly exists.
He gave the ghost of a smile...
The sun was warm and there was just a ghost of a breeze from the north-west.
4 [VERB] be V-ed, V n
If a book or other piece of writing is ghosted, it is written by a writer for another person, for example a politician or sportsman, who then publishes it as his or her own work.
I published his autobiography, which was very competently ghosted by a woman journalist from the Daily Mail...
I ghosted his weekly rugby column for the Telegraph.
= ghost-write
5 [PHRASE] v PHR, with neg
If someone does not stand or does not have a ghost of a chance of doing something, they have very little chance of succeeding in it. (INFORMAL)
He doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of selling the house.ghost sto|ry (ghost stories)
[N-COUNT]
A ghost story is a story about ghosts.ghost town (ghost towns)
[N-COUNT]
A ghost town is a town which used to be busy and wealthy but is now poor and deserted.
Mogadishu is said to be a virtual ghost town, deserted by two-thirds of its residents.ghost writ|er (ghost writers)
also ghostwriter
[N-COUNT]
A ghost writer is someone who writes a book or other published work instead of the person who is named as the author.