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Ghoul vs. Ghost: What's the Difference?

Ghoul and Ghost Definitions

Ghoul

An evil spirit or demon in Muslim folklore believed to plunder graves and feed on corpses.

Ghost

The spirit of a dead person, especially one that is believed to appear to the living in bodily form or to haunt specific locations.

Ghoul

In popular folklore, an undead or subhuman being, especially one that eats human flesh.

Ghost

A person's spirit or soul
Was sick for months and finally gave up the ghost.

Ghoul

A grave robber.
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Ghost

A returning or haunting memory or image.

Ghoul

One who delights in the revolting, morbid, or loathsome.

Ghost

A slight or faint trace
Just a ghost of a smile.

Ghoul

A demon said to feed on corpses.

Ghost

The tiniest bit
Not a ghost of a chance.
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Ghoul

A graverobber.

Ghost

An unwanted image on a television or radar screen caused by reflected waves.

Ghoul

A person with an undue interest in death and corpses, or more generally in things that are revolting and repulsive.

Ghost

A displaced image in a photograph caused by the optical system of the camera.

Ghoul

A person with a callous or uncaring attitude to human life and suffering, particularly when prioritizing economic concerns.

Ghost

An unwanted spectral line caused by imperfections in a diffraction grating.

Ghoul

An imaginary evil being among Eastern nations, which was supposed to feed upon human bodies.

Ghost

A displaced image in a mirror caused by reflection from the front of the glass.

Ghoul

Someone who takes bodies from graves and sells them for anatomical dissection

Ghost

(Informal) A ghostwriter.

Ghoul

An evil spirit or ghost

Ghost

A nonexistent publication listed in bibliographies.

Ghost

A fictitious employee or business.

Ghost

(Physiology) A red blood cell having no hemoglobin.

Ghost

(Informal) To engage in ghostwriting.

Ghost

To move noiselessly like a ghost
“Two young deer ghosted out of the woods” (Nancy M. Debevoise).

Ghost

(Informal) To cut off all communication with someone, especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation
Ghosted on him after two dates.

Ghost

To haunt.

Ghost

(Informal) To ghostwrite
Was hired to ghost the memoirs of a famous executive.

Ghost

(Informal) To cut off all communication with (someone), especially a romantic or sexual partner, without providing an explanation
“In some point in nearly every young millennial's life, they will be ghosted. And not by sad dead bodies from the graveyard, but by idiot living ones from the Internet” (Heather Dockray).

Ghost

The spirit; the human soul.

Ghost

The disembodied soul; the soul or spirit of a deceased person; a spirit appearing after death.
Everyone believed that the ghost of an old lady haunted the crypt.

Ghost

Any faint shadowy semblance; an unsubstantial image.
Not a ghost of a chance
The ghost of an idea

Ghost

A false image formed in a telescope, camera, or other optical device by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses.

Ghost

An unwanted image similar to and overlapping or adjacent to the main one on a television screen, caused by the transmitted image being received both directly and via reflection.

Ghost

A ghostwriter.

Ghost

A nonexistent person invented to obtain some fraudulent benefit.

Ghost

A dead person whose identity is stolen by another. See ghosting.

Ghost

(Internet) An unresponsive user on IRC, resulting from the user's client disconnecting without notifying the server.

Ghost

(computing) An image of a file or hard disk.

Ghost

(theatre) An understudy.

Ghost

(espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.

Ghost

The faint image that remains after an attempt to remove graffiti.

Ghost

(video games) An opponent in a racing game that follows a previously recorded route, allowing players to compete against previous best times.

Ghost

Someone whose identity cannot be established because there are no records of him/her.

Ghost

(quantum physics) An unphysical state in a gauge theory.

Ghost

A formerly nonexistent character that was at some point mistakenly encoded into a character set standard, which might have since become used opportunistically for some genuine purpose.

Ghost

(countable) ghost pepper

Ghost

(uncountable) A game in which players take turns to add a letter to a possible word, trying not to complete a word.

Ghost

White or pale.
Ghost slug

Ghost

Transparent or translucent.
Ghost ant
Ghost catfish

Ghost

(attributive) Abandoned.
Ghost town
Ghost ship

Ghost

(attributive) Remnant; the remains of a(n).
Ghost cell
Ghost crater
Ghost image

Ghost

(attributive) Perceived or listed but not real.
Ghost cellphone vibration
Ghost pain
Ghost island
Ghost voter

Ghost

(attributive) Of cryptid, supernatural or extraterrestrial nature.
Ghost rocket
Ghost deer

Ghost

(attributive) Substitute.
Ghost writer
Ghost singer

Ghost

To haunt; to appear to in the form of an apparition.

Ghost

(obsolete) To die; to expire.

Ghost

(literary) To imbue with a ghost-like hue or effect.

Ghost

(ambitransitive) To ghostwrite.

Ghost

(nautical) To sail seemingly without wind.

Ghost

(computing) To copy a file or hard drive image.

Ghost

(GUI) To gray out (a visual item) to indicate that it is unavailable.

Ghost

To forcibly disconnect an IRC user who is using one's reserved nickname.

Ghost

(intransitive) To appear or move without warning, quickly and quietly; to slip.

Ghost

(transitive) To transfer (a prisoner) to another prison without the prior knowledge of other inmates.

Ghost

(slang) To kill.

Ghost

To perform an act of ghosting: to break up with someone without warning or explanation; to ignore someone, especially on social media.

Ghost

(film) To provide the speaking or singing voice for another actor, who is lip-syncing.

Ghost

The spirit; the soul of man.
Then gives her grieved ghost thus to lament.

Ghost

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.
I thought that I had died in sleep,And was a blessed ghost.

Ghost

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.

Ghost

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.
Jacob . . . yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people

Ghost

To die; to expire.

Ghost

To appear to or haunt in the form of an apparition.

Ghost

A mental representation of some haunting experience;
He looked like he had seen a ghost
It aroused specters from his past

Ghost

A writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else

Ghost

The visible disembodied soul of a dead person

Ghost

A suggestion of some quality;
There was a touch of sarcasm in his tone
He detected a ghost of a smile on her face

Ghost

Move like a ghost;
The masked men ghosted across the moonlit yard

Ghost

Haunt like a ghost; pursue;
Fear of illness haunts her

Ghost

Write for someone else;
How many books have you ghostwritten so far?

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