spook
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”).
Pronunciation
Noun
spook (plural spooks)
- A spirit returning to haunt a place.
- The visit to the old cemetery brought scary visions of spooks and ghosts.
- A ghost or phantom.
- The building was haunted by a couple of spooks.
- A hobgoblin.
- A scare or fright.
- The big spider gave me a spook.
- (espionage) A spy.
- 2009, "Spies like them", BBC News Magazine (online), 24 July 2009:
- 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?
- 2012, The Economist, Oct 13th 2012, Huawei and ZTE: Put on hold
- The congressional study frets that Huawei’s and ZTE’s products could be used as Trojan horses by Chinese spooks.
- 2009, "Spies like them", BBC News Magazine (online), 24 July 2009:
- (slang, dated, derogatory) A black person.
- (philosophy) 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. — Max Stirner
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:ghost
Translations
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- Chinese:
- Dutch: neger (nl) c
- (deprecated template usage)
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- French: bamboula (fr) m
- Russian: ни́ггер (ru) m (nígger)
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
spook (third-person singular simple present spooks, present participle spooking, simple past and past participle spooked)
- (transitive) 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.
- (intransitive) To become frightened (by something startling).
- The deer spooked at the sound of the dogs.
- (transitive) To haunt.
Translations
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Derived terms
See also
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch spook, from Middle Dutch spoke, spooc, from Proto-Germanic *spōk.
Pronunciation
Noun
spook (plural spoke, diminutive spokie)
Descendants
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch spoke, spooc, from spoke, spoocke, spoicke (“wizardry, witchcraft”), from Proto-Germanic *spōk. Further etymology unclear. Compare Middle Low German spôk; Low German spôk; Middle High German Spuch; modern High German Spuk.
Noun
spook n (plural spoken, diminutive spookje n)
- phantom, ghost
- Geloof je in spoken? ― Do you believe in ghosts?
- horror, terror
- het spook van de oorlog ― the horror of war
- an annoying and intolerable woman
Synonyms
Derived terms
- gootspook
- nachtspook
- spookambtenaar
- spookdier
- spookdorp
- spookhuis
- spookschip
- spookslot
- spookstad
- spooktrein
- spookuur
- spookverhaal
- spookwoord
Descendants
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
spook
- (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present indicative of spoken
- (deprecated template usage) imperative of spoken
Middle English
Noun
spook
- Alternative form of spoke
- English terms borrowed from Dutch
- English terms derived from Dutch
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/uːk
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Espionage
- English slang
- English dated terms
- English derogatory terms
- en:Philosophy
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Occupations
- en:People
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms with IPA pronunciation
- Afrikaans lemmas
- Afrikaans nouns
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/oːk
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -en
- Dutch neuter nouns
- Dutch terms with usage examples
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns