spectre definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us" [syn: apparition, phantom, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, specter, spectre]
2: a mental representation of some haunting experience; "he looked like he had seen a ghost"; "it aroused specters from his past" [syn: ghost, shade, spook, wraith, specter, spectre]

Merriam Webster's

noun see specter

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (US specter) 1 a ghost. 2 a haunting presentiment or preoccupation (the spectre of war). 3 (in comb.) used in the names of some animals because of their thinness, transparency, etc. (spectre-bat; spectre-crab). Phrases and idioms: Spectre of the Brocken a huge shadowy image of the observer projected on mists about a mountain-top (observed on the Brocken in Germany). Etymology: F spectre or L spectrum: see SPECTRUM

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Brocken specter Brock"en spec"ter or spectre spec"tre [Trans. of G. Brockengespenst.] A mountain specter (which see), esp. that observed on the Brocken, in the Harz Mountains.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spectre Spec"tre, n. See Specter.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Specter Spec"ter, Spectre Spec"tre, n. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.] 1. Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. The ghosts of traitors from the bridge descend, With bold fanatic specters to rejoice. --Dryden. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The tarsius. (b) A stick insect. Specter bat (Zo["o]l.), any phyllostome bat. Specter candle (Zo["o]l.), a belemnite. Specter shrimp (Zo["o]l.), a skeleton shrimp. See under Skeleton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(spectres) Note: in AM, use 'specter' 1. If you refer to the spectre of something unpleasant, you are referring to something that you are frightened might occur. Failure to arrive at a consensus over the issue raised the spectre of legal action... N-COUNT: usu the N of n 2. A spectre is a ghost. (LITERARY) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Apparition, ghost, spirit, shade, phantom, shadow, goblin, hobgoblin.