GH -abbr

  1. growth hormone

gha·ri·al ['ger-ē-əl] -n

  1. a large long-snouted crocodilian ( Gavialis gangeticusof the family Gavialidae) of India

ghar·ry ['ga-rē, 'gär-ē] -n

  1. a horse-drawn cab used esp. in India and Egypt

ghast ['gast] -adj

  1. ghastly

ghast·ful [-fəl] -adj, adv

  1. frightful

ghast·ly ['gast-lē] -adj, n, adv

  1. terrifyingly horrible to the senses : frightening
    • a ghastly crime
  2. intensely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable
    • such a life seems ghastly in its emptiness and sterility -- Aldous Huxley
  3. resembling a ghost
  4. filled with fear
  5. very great
    • a ghastly mistake

ghat ['gȯt, 'gät] -n

  1. a broad flight of steps that is situated on an Indian riverbank and that provides access to the water esp. for bathing

GHB [,jē-(,)āch-'bē] -n

  1. a metabolite C 4H 8O 3of gamma-aminobutyric acid that is a depressant of the central nervous system and is used illicitly in the form of its synthetic sodium salt to produce sedative and euphoric effects or to stimulate release of growth hormone to increase muscle mass called also gamma hydroxybutyrate

ghee ['gē] -n

  1. a semifluid clarified butter made esp. in India

gher·kin ['gər-kən] -n

  1. a small prickly fruit used for pickling
  2. a pickle made from this fruit
  3. the slender annual vine ( Cucumis anguria) of the gourd family that bears gherkins
  4. the immature fruit of the cucumber esp. when used for pickling

ghet·to ['ge-(,)tō] -n

  1. a quarter of a city in which Jews were formerly required to live
  2. a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live esp. because of social, legal, or economic pressure
  3. an isolated group
    • a geriatric ghetto
  4. a situation that resembles a ghetto esp. in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity
    • the pink-collar ghetto

ghetto -vt

  1. ghettoize

ghetto blaster -n

  1. boom box

ghet·to·ize ['ge-tō-,īz] -vt, n

  1. to isolate in or as if in a ghetto

Ghib·el·line ['gi-bə-,lēn, -,līn, -lən] -n

  1. a member of an aristocratic political party in medieval Italy supporting the authority of the German emperors

ghillie ['gi-lē] -n

(variant of gillie)

  1. a male attendant on a Scottish Highland chief
  2. attendant
  3. a fishing and hunting guide
  4. a shoe with a low top and decorative lacing

ghost ['gōst] -n, adj

  1. the seat of life or intelligence : soul
    • give up the ghost
  2. a disembodied soul
  3. the soul of a dead person believed to be an inhabitant of the unseen world or to appear to the living in bodily likeness
  4. spirit, demon
  5. a faint shadowy trace
    • a ghost of a smile
  6. the least bit
    • not a ghost of a chance
  7. a false image in a photographic negative or on a television screen caused esp. by reflection
  8. one who ghostwrites
  9. a red blood cell that has lost its hemoglobin
  10. to haunt like a ghost
  11. ghostwrite
  12. to move silently like a ghost
  13. to sail quietly in light winds
  14. ghostwrite

Ghost Dance -n

  1. a group dance of a late 19th century American Indian messianic cult believed to promote the return of the dead and the restoration of traditional ways of life

ghost·ing ['gōs-tiŋ] -n

  1. a faint double image on a television screen
  2. the formation of such images

ghost·ly ['gōst-lē] -adj, n, adv

  1. of or relating to the soul : spiritual
  2. of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a ghost : spectral

ghost story -n

  1. a story about ghosts
  2. a tale based on imagination rather than fact

ghost town -n

  1. a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usu. as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource

ghost word -n

  1. a word form never in established usage

ghost·write ['gōs(t)-,rīt] -vb, n

  1. to write for and in the name of another
  2. to write (as a speech) for another who is the presumed author

ghoul ['gül] -n, adj, adv

  1. a legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses
  2. one suggestive of a ghoul
  3. one who shows morbid interest in things considered shocking or repulsive

ghou·lie ['gü-lē] -n

  1. ghoul

GHQ -abbr

  1. general headquarters

GHz -abbr

  1. gigahertz