wisp

[ wisp ]

/ wɪsp /

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See synonyms for wisp on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

any thin tuft, lock, mass, etc.: wisps of hair.

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

a person or thing that is small, delicate, or barely discernible: a mere wisp of a lad; a wisp of a frown.

a whisk broom.

Chiefly British Dialect.

a pad or twist of straw, as used to rub down a horse.
a twisted bit of straw used as a torch.

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

verb (used with object)

to twist into a wisp.

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Origin of wisp

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

OTHER WORDS FROM wisp

wisplike, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wisp in a sentence

In spite of his smock-frock and his straw-wisped hat, and his false whiskers, black as Erebus, she knew him for her brother.
East Lynne|Mrs. Henry Wood
I saw by the way she wisped the shawl round her full white chin that I was welcome to pass her if I would.
An Isle in the Water|Katharine Tynan

British Dictionary definitions for wisp (1 of 2)

wisp

/ (wɪsp) /

noun

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

a small bundle, as of hay or straw

anything slender and delicatea wisp of a girl

a mere suggestion or hint

a flock of birds, esp snipe

verb

(intr often foll by away) to move or act like a wisp

(tr) mainly British dialect to twist into a wisp

(tr) mainly British to groom (a horse) with a wisp of straw, etc

Derived forms of wisp

wisplike, adjective

Word Origin for wisp

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

British Dictionary definitions for wisp (2 of 2)

WISP

/ (wɪsp) /

n acronym for

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

wisp

Origin of wisp

OTHER WORDS FROM wisp

Words related to wisp

How to use wisp in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wisp (1 of 2)

Derived forms of wisp

Word Origin for wisp

British Dictionary definitions for wisp (2 of 2)