# ghosting

Pronunciation: say "GOHST-ing" US /ˈɡoʊstɪŋ/, UK /ˈɡəʊstɪŋ/, AUS /ˈɡɐʉstɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The practice of ending a personal relationship by suddenly stopping all contact and giving no explanation. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The act of cutting off all contact with someone to end a relationship, without ever explaining why.
   - _He blamed work stress for his ghosting of someone he had dated for months._
   - _Counselors say ghosting often leaves lasting anxiety in the person who was abandoned._
3. The blurry appearance of a television picture caused by interference from signals that reach the antenna by more than one path.
   - Simple: A faint extra image on a TV screen, caused when the signal reaches the set by more than one path.
   - _The technician traced the ghosting to reflections off a nearby tower._
   - _Analog sets often showed ghosting in areas crowded with tall buildings._
4. A keyboard problem in which certain simultaneous keypresses trigger the action of an additional key that was never actually pressed.
   - Simple: A keyboard fault where pressing several keys at once makes the computer act as if another key was pressed too.
   - _Gamers avoid ghosting by choosing keyboards built to handle many simultaneous presses._
   - _The reviewer tested for ghosting by holding down several keys at once._
5. The phenomenon of writing on one side of a notebook page being partly visible through to the other side.
   - Simple: When writing on one side of a notebook page shows faintly through to the other side.
   - _Fountain pen users complain about ghosting in cheaper notebooks._
   - _The journal's thick paper prevented any ghosting from heavy ink._
6. A form of identity theft in which someone assumes the identity, and sometimes the social role, of a specific dead person who is not widely known to have died.
   - Simple: A kind of identity theft where someone takes over the identity of a dead person who is not known to be dead.
   - _Investigators linked the pension scam to ghosting of recently deceased claimants._
   - _Ghosting let the impostor collect a dead stranger's mail and benefits for months._
7. The process of cloning the entire contents of a computer's drive to create an identical image for backup or mass deployment.
   - Simple: The process of making an exact copy of everything on a computer's hard drive.
   - _Administrators rely on ghosting to deploy a standard setup across an entire lab._
   - _After ghosting the master drive, they restored each machine from the saved image._
8. The act or habit of exhaling vapor slowly so that others do not notice it. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The habit of breathing out vape smoke very slowly so that others do not notice it.
   - _Vapers use ghosting to stay discreet in places where vaping is banned._
   - _His ghosting was so subtle that no one at the table noticed._
9. The practice of concealing prisoners from outside inspectors, including potentially hostile ones, so that their detention goes unrecorded.
   - Simple: The practice of hiding prisoners so that outside inspectors cannot find or see them.
   - _Human rights monitors documented ghosting at several undisclosed sites._
   - _Ghosting allowed the facility to deny holding the missing men._

## Verb

2. Present participle of ghost. — present participle and gerund of ghost
   - Simple: Present participle of ghost. Use this form after words like "is" or "was", or as the "-ing" naming form.
   - _They started ghosting clients who asked too many questions._
   - _Critics accused the company of ghosting its most loyal customers._

## Origin

Formed from "ghost" combined with the suffix "-ing".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ghosting (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).