Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A once thriving town, especially a boomtown of the American West, that has been completely abandoned.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A town which has become deserted, usually due to failing economic activity.
  • noun An Internet forum that lacks active users.
  • noun Figurative. An artist who lacks a fanbase.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a deserted settlement (especially in western United States)

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  • noun

    Date: 1931

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

    _Wikipedia

    Also as the result of an ecological disaster as in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York or Chernobyl

    February 6, 2008

  • Don't forget the lovely Centralia, PA. :-(

    February 6, 2008