Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

spook

 - 4 dictionary results

spook

  [spook]
Use spook in a Sentence
–noun
1. Informal. a ghost; specter.
2. Slang. a ghostwriter.
3. Slang. an eccentric person.
4. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a black person.
5. Slang. an espionage agent; spy.
–verb (used with object)
6. to haunt; inhabit or appear in or to as a ghost or specter.
7. Informal. to frighten; scare.
–verb (used without object)
8. Informal. to become frightened or scared: The fish spooked at any disturbance in the pool.
Origin:
1795–1805, Americanism; < D; c. G Spuk

Related forms:
spook⋅er⋅y, noun
spookish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spook
spook   (spōōk)   
n.  

  1. Informal A ghost; a specter.

  2. Slang A secret agent; a spy.

  3. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a Black person.

v.   spooked, spook·ing, spooks Informal

v.   tr.

  1. To haunt.

  2. To startle and cause nervous activity in; frighten: The news spooked investors, and stock prices fell.

v.   intr.
To become frightened and nervous.

[Dutch, from Middle Dutch spooc.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
spook

  1. tv.
    to frighten or startle someone or something. (See also spooked.) : Something I did spooked the teller, and she set off the silent alarm.
  2. n.
    a spy; a CIA (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) agent. : I just learned that my uncle had been a spook for years.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

spook  (n.)
1801, from Du. spook, from M.Du. spooc "spook, ghost," from a common Gmc. source (cf. Ger. Spuk "ghost, apparition," M.L.G. spok "spook," Swed. spok "scarecrow, Norw. spjok "ghost, specter," Dan. spøg "joke"), of unknown origin. Possible outside connections include Lettish spigana "dragon, witch," spiganis "will o' the wisp," Lith. spingu, spingeti "to shine," O.Pruss. spanksti "spark." Meaning "undercover agent" is attested from 1942. The verb is first recorded 1867 in sense of "to walk or act like a ghost;" meaning "to unnerve" is from 1935. The derogatory racial sense of "black person" is attested from 1940s, perhaps from notion of dark skin being difficult to see at night. Black pilots trained at Tuskegee Institute during World War II called themselves the Spookwaffe. Spooky is from 1854.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see spook on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way