spectre

spectre
    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}]
    

Spectre \Spec"tre\, n.
   See {Specter}.
   [1913 Webster]
    

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.
      [1913 Webster]

            The ghosts of traitors from the bridge descend,
            With bold fanatic specters to rejoice. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Zool.)
      (a) The tarsius.
      (b) A stick insect.
          [1913 Webster]

   {Specter bat} (Zool.), any phyllostome bat.

   {Specter candle} (Zool.), a belemnite.

   {Specter shrimp} (Zool.), a skeleton shrimp. See under
      {Skeleton}.
      [1913 Webster]