ghast

English

Etymology 1

Variation of gast, from Middle English gasten, from Old English gāstan (“to meditate”) and gǣstan (“to gast, frighten, afflict, torment”). More at gast. Spelling influenced by ghost.

Verb

ghast (third-person singular simple present ghasts, present participle ghasting, simple past and past participle ghasted)

Alternative form of gast

Derived terms

aghast
beghast
ghastful
ghastly
ghastness

Etymology 2

Poetic abbreviation of ghastly.

Adjective

ghast (comparative more ghast, superlative most ghast)

Having a ghastly appearance; weird.

Noun

ghast (plural ghasts)

(fantasy) An evil spirit or monster; a ghoul.
- 2000, Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass
  The cliff-ghast wrenched off the fox's head, and fought his brothers for the entrails.
- 2007, Ian Irvine, Runcible Jones & the Buried City
  The most powerful of all undead creatures, ghasts feed on ghosts, dead souls and, most especially, live ones. They want to take over Iltior and set up a ghast empire.

Translations

Ghastly, weird

Evil spirit or monster

French: épouvant (fr) m

Anagrams

Ghats, ghats