haunt

[skinem]

haunt
Pronunciation: 'hont, 'hänt
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French hanter, probably from Old Norse heimta to lead home, pull, claim, from heimr home
transitive verb
1 a : to visit often : FREQUENT b : to continually seek the company of
2 a : to have a disquieting or harmful effect on : TROUBLE <problems we ignore now will come back to haunt us> b : to recur constantly and spontaneously to <the tune haunted her> c : to reappear continually in <a sense of tension that haunts his writing>
3 : to visit or inhabit as a ghost
intransitive verb
1 : to stay around or persist : LINGER
2 : to appear habitually as a ghost
- haunt·er noun
- haunt·ing·ly /'hon-ti[ng]-lE, 'hän-/ adverb

Not to be confused with "haint"--Southern American for ghost. So is "bugger" (pronounced "booger")--Southern American for ghost or monster. An area not far from where I live is Bugger Hollow. Creepy at night...especially around the cemetary...

[Slava]

See the Dr.'s take on this one here: http://www.alphadictionary.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2215

I'm not sure I'd be comfortable living in Bugger Hollow, no matter how it's pronounced.