Ghostbuster

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who specializes in locating and eliminating supernatural spirits or hauntings
2. Someone who investigates and removes ghosts or poltergeists from buildings and locations
3. A professional dedicated to confronting and dispelling ghostly apparitions and paranormal phenomena

Etymology: The most surprising thing about this word is how little it had to do with ghosts before 1984. "Buster" was already a familiar American English noun meaning someone who breaks or smashes something, and it had long been attached to all sorts of targets, from bronco busters to trust busters who took apart monopolies. "Ghost" was the older half, and the pairing was simply a plain compound of the two. Nothing about the word was special until a film gave it a famous subject. The 1984 comedy Ghostbusters, written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis, turned the phrase into the name of a team of paranormal exterminators in New York City. The title was so memorable that the term soon escaped the screen and became a generic label for anyone who hunts, debunks or removes spectral nuisances, and later for people who clear out any kind of unwelcome presence.