spook

English

Etymology

From Dutch spook (“ghost”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: spo͞ok, IPA: /spuːk/, SAMPA: /spu:k/
• Rhymes: -uːk

Noun

spook (plural spooks)

1. A spirit returning to haunt a place.

   The visit to the old cemetery brought scary visions of spooks and ghosts.

2. A ghost or an apparition.
3. A hobgoblin.
4. (espionage) A spy.
   • 2009, "Spies like them", BBC News Magazine (online), 24 July:

     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?

5. A scare or fright.

   The big spider gave me a spook.

6. (dated, pejorative) A black person.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:ghost

Translations

spirit returning to haunt a place

Dutch: spook (nl) n., geest (nl) Finnish: haamu (fi)

Swedish: spöke (sv) n., osalig ande (sv)

ghost or apparition

Dutch: spook (nl) n., schijnsel (nl) n. Finnish: haamu (fi)

Swedish: spöke (sv) n.

hobgoblin

Dutch: kabouter (nl) c.

spy

Dutch: spion (nl) c., verspieder (nl) c.

pejorative: black person

Dutch: neger (nl) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

German: Gespenst, Phantom, Geist, Spuk

Italian: spettro (it), fantasma (it)

Verb

spook (third-person singular simple present spooks, present participle spooking, simple past and past participle spooked)

1. To scare or frighten.
2. To startle or frighten an animal

   The movement in the bushes spooked the deer and they ran.

Translations

• Finnish: pelotella (1), säikyttää (2)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or verb spook

spookiness

spookish

spook out spooky

See also

• Wikipedia article on ghosts

Anagrams

• SOKOP

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

Een spook zoals dat vaak in een kinderboek getekend wordt.
A ghost such as is often drawn in a children's book.

spook n. (plural spoken, diminutive spookje)

1. phantom, ghost

   Geloof je in spoken? — Do you believe in ghosts?

2. horror, terror

   het spook van de oorlog: the horror of war

3. an annoying and intolerable woman

Verb

spook

1. first-person singular present indicative of spoken.
2. imperative of spoken.