01 n. The spirit; the soul of man.
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1.
The spirit; the soul of man.[Obs.]“Then gives her grieved ghost thus to lament.” — Spenser.
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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.
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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.
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4.
A false image formed in a telescope by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.“And he gave up the ghost full softly.” — Chaucer.“Jacob . . . yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.” — Gen. xlix. 33.
Phrases & compounds
Ghost moth —
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;
To give up [or] yield up the ghost —
to die; to expire.