wisp

[wisp]

noun

1. a handful or small bundle of straw, hay, or the like.

2. any thin tuft, lock, mass, etc..

   wisps of hair.

3. a thin puff or streak, as of smoke; slender trace.

4. a person or thing that is small, delicate, or barely discernible.

   a mere wisp of a lad; a wisp of a frown.

5. a whisk broom.

6. Chiefly British Dialect.

   1. a pad or twist of straw, as used to rub down a horse.

   2. a twisted bit of straw used as a torch.

7. a will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus.

verb (used with object)

1. to twist into a wisp.

wisp

¹

/ wɪsp /

noun

1. a thin, light, delicate, or fibrous piece or strand, such as a streak of smoke or a lock of hair

2. a small bundle, as of hay or straw

3. anything slender and delicate

   a wisp of a girl

4. a mere suggestion or hint

5. a flock of birds, esp snipe

verb

1. to move or act like a wisp

2. dialect,  (tr) to twist into a wisp

3. (tr) to groom (a horse) with a wisp of straw, etc

WISP

²

/ wɪsp /

acronym

1. Wireless Information Service Provider: an internet service provider set up to deal with and deliver internet services to clients through wireless access points

Other Word Forms

• wisplike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wisp¹

1300–50; Middle English wisp, wips; akin to wipe

Word History and Origins

Origin of wisp¹

C14: variant of wips, of obscure origin; compare _wipe

Example Sentences

She ran into the dress shop with wisps of straw stuck to her legs and only minutes to choose, for the wagon could not wait long.

Read more on Literature

Hours after the wildfire had ignited, the worst was over, but for days afterward, wisps of smoke continued rising from the ashes.

Read more on Literature

Two pianists weave together brief musical statements—crawling, low-end figures; chiming high notes; staggered phrases; wisps of possible melodies.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He zooms the camera in to wisps of white smoke rising from the dirt.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The remark carries a delicate wisp of rueful irony.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• tuft