Definition

1. Noun:

   • A ghost or specter; a frightening apparition: "spook" refers to a supernatural being, often thought to haunt a place, that causes fear.
   • A spy or undercover agent: (Informal/Slang) "spook" can refer to a person engaged in espionage or secret intelligence work.
   • An eccentric or strange person: (Informal) "spook" can describe someone who is perceived as odd or unsettling.

2. Verb:

   • To frighten or startle suddenly: "spook" means to scare someone or something, often causing a nervous or startled reaction.
   • To become frightened or nervous: (Intransitive) "spook" can also describe the act of becoming scared or skittish.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The old house was said to be haunted by a spook.
  • The novel's protagonist was a spook working for a secret agency.
  • He's a bit of a spook, always muttering to himself.

• Verb:

  • The loud thunder spooked the cat, and it hid under the bed.
  • Investors were spooked by the sudden market crash.
  • The horse spooked easily at the plastic bag blowing in the wind.

Advanced Usage

• "to spook at something": to react with sudden fear to a specific thing.

  • The deer spooked at the sound of the hunter's footsteps.

• "to be spooked by": to be made fearful or anxious by something.

  • She was deeply spooked by the strange phone calls in the middle of the night.

Variants and Related Words

• Spooky (adj): causing fear in a way that suggests the supernatural; eerie.

  • The forest path was dark and spooky at night.

• Spookiness (n): the quality of being spooky.

Synonyms

• Noun (Ghost): ghost, specter, phantom, apparition, wraith.
• Noun (Spy): agent, operative, intelligence officer, secret agent.
• Verb: frighten, scare, startle, alarm, unnerve.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "spook" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its usage is typically straightforward as a verb.)

Related Idioms

• "Spook the horses": to cause alarm or disruption, often by doing something unconventional or shocking. (Extends from the literal meaning of frightening animals.)
  • His radical proposals might spook the horses in the conservative committee.

Noun

1. a mental representation of some haunting experience
   • he looked like he had seen a ghost
   • it aroused specters from his past
2. someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric

Verb

1. frighten or scare, and often provoke into a violent action
   • The noise spooked the horse