ghost bump

noun

A goosebump, especially when caused by anything ghostly or ghastly.

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Meanings

nounghost bump (plural ghost bumps)

plural ghost bumps · alternative ghost-bump · alternative ghostbump

  1. A goosebump, especially when caused by anything ghostly or ghastly.

    You might say they give us ghostbumps.

    2012, Leonard R. N. Ashley, Halloween, page 90
    3 more examples

    The weather turned so frigid Luke got ghost bumps.

    1986, Michael J. Pellowski, Ghost Toasties

    These were ghost bumps — the prickly bumps on my skin that often showed up when a ghost was about to appear.

    1996, Linda Joy Singleton, Babysitter Beware, page 8

    Her son even had goose bumps (or more accurately in this case, ghost bumps).

    2002, Kimberly Molto, True Tales of the Paranormal

Origin

From ghost + bump, modelled after goosebump.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ghost bump. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ghost%20bump

MLA

“ghost bump.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ghost%20bump. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ghost bump,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ghost%20bump.

Source: ghost bump on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.