/spuːk/, /spʊk/
OriginBorrowed 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”).
- informalA 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."”
- A hobgoblin.
- informalA scare or fright.
“The big spider gave me a spook.”
- slangAn 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.”
- 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.”
- US, slangA psychiatrist.
“Commonly, the surgeons view nonsurgeons with disdain. The most disdain is directed toward the “shrinks” or the “spooks,” as the psychiatrists are called.”
- slangA 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.
- transitiveTo 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”
- intransitiveTo become frightened (by something startling).
“The deer spooked at the sound of the dogs.”
- transitiveTo haunt.
Formsspooks(plural) · spooks(present, singular, third-person) · spooking(participle, present) · spooked(participle, past) · spooked(past)