Definition: specter

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

specter
     n 1: 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,
           spectre]
     2: a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the
        apparition that confronted us" [syn: apparition, phantom,
         spectre]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

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.

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

   2. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The tarsius.
      (b) A stick insect.

   Specter bat (Zo["o]l.), any phyllostome bat.

   Specter candle (Zo["o]l.), a belemnite.

   Specter shrimp (Zo["o]l.), a skeleton shrimp. See under
      Skeleton.