ghost town

noun

: a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource

Examples of ghost town in a Sentence

After all the gold was mined, the place became a ghost town.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Historic mining towns in Yuma, Jerome and Wickenburg At least three ghost towns in former mining communities are passport stops. Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 15 Oct. 2024 Horizon Worlds—Meta’s flagship VR platform—was a virtual ghost town populated by legless virtual avatars. Webb Wright, WIRED, 7 Oct. 2024 The destination was beset by troubles and Two Guns is now considered a ghost town. Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 15 Oct. 2024 Here, the octogenarian killer is the last resident of an orphanage in a ghost town; when a group of millennials sets upon it to turn it into a trendy hot spot, the orphanage’s owner dies and Leatherface goes bananas. Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ghost town 

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ghost town was in 1894

Dictionary Entries Near ghost town

Cite this Entry

“Ghost town.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghost%20town. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

ghost town

noun
: a town deserted because some natural resource has been used up

More from Merriam-Webster on ghost town

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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