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spook

noun
/spuːk//spʊk/US

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”). Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, spûk (“apparition, ghost”), Middle High German gespük (“a haunting”), German Spuk, Danish spøge (“to haunt”), Swedish spöke (“ghost”).

  1. derived from spooc — “spook, ghost”
  2. borrowed from spook — “ghost”

Definitions

  1. A ghost or phantom.

    • The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.
    • "I'll say what I think, no more and no less, and I won't be scared by you or your spooks into altering my opinions."

  2. A hobgoblin.

  3. A scare or fright.

    • The big spider gave me a spook.
  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. An undercover agent, spy, or intelligence analyst.

      • From Ian Fleming to John Le Carre - authors have long been fascinated by the world of espionage. But, asks the BBC’s Gordon Corera, what do real life spooks make of fictional spies?
      • The congressional study frets that Huawei’s and ZTE’s products could be used as Trojan horses by Chinese spooks.
      • The hard right is on the march in Europe. The Alternative for Germany, a party declared extremist by domestic spooks, scored a record result in a national election in February.

    2. A black person.

      • Some won't take spooks—hell, don't make no difference to me.
      • "[…] Dryades Street and that whole uptown neighborhood is gonna be worth a fortune once the white people take it back from you spooks and develop it. […]"

    3. A metaphysical manifestation

      A metaphysical manifestation; an artificial distinction or construct.

      • He who is infatuated with Man leaves persons out of account so far as that infatuation extends, and floats in an ideal, sacred interest. Man, you see, is not a person, but an ideal, a spook.

    4. A psychiatrist.

      • Commonly, the surgeons view nonsurgeons with disdain. The most disdain is directed toward the “shrinks” or the “spooks,” as the psychiatrists are called.

    5. A player who engages in hole carding by attempting to glimpse the dealer's hole card when…

      A player who engages in hole carding by attempting to glimpse the dealer's hole card when the dealer checks under an ace or a 10 to see if a blackjack is present.

    6. To frighten or make nervous (especially by startling).

      • The hunters were spooked when the black cat crossed their path. The movement in the bushes spooked the deer and they ran.
      • As that was happening, an East Midlands train came through at 90mph. George [a Labrador] was spooked as the train went past him and ran backwards across the neighbouring slow lines and off towards the sidings.

    7. To become frightened (by something startling).

      • The deer spooked at the sound of the dogs.

    8. To haunt.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for spook. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA