4VERB 代人写作;为人代笔 If a book or other piece of writing is ghosted, it is written by a writer for another person, for example a politician or sportsman, who then publishes it as his or her own work. 代人写作;为人代笔
I published his autobiography, which was very competently ghosted by a woman journalist from the Daily Mail. [beVERB-ed]
我出版了《每日邮报》的女记者为他代笔的自传,写得颇具文采。
I ghosted his weekly rugby column for the Telegraph. [VERB noun]
我为他代写《电讯报》每周的橄榄球专栏。
5PHRASE [with neg]没有一点(成功的)可能;机会渺茫 If someone does not stand or does not have a ghost of a chance of doing something, they have very little chance of succeeding in it. 没有一点(成功的)可能;机会渺茫 [informal]
He doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of selling the house.
那房子他根本不可能卖得出去。
6PHRASE [VERB inflects](人)放弃,撂挑子;(机器)报废,不再运转 If someone gives up the ghost, they stop trying to do something because they no longer believe they can do it successfully. If a machine gives up the ghost, it stops working. (人)放弃,撂挑子;(机器)报废,不再运转 [informal]
Some firms give up the ghost before they find what they are looking for.
一些公司没等找到目标便已放弃。
The battery in my car gave up the ghost.
我的汽车电池报废了。
Quotations
Ghost stories appeal to our craving for immortality. If you can be afraid of a ghost, then you have to believe that a ghost may exist. And if a ghost exists then oblivion might not be the endStanley Kubrick
Even the living were only ghosts in the makingPat BarkerThe Ghost Road