Dictionary.com
definitions

wisp

[wisp]
|

noun

verb (used with object)

to twist into a wisp.

RELATED CONTENT

rococo
Read more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE
Who Is Jack In Jack-o’-lantern, Anyway?
Who, or what, is the namesake of this autumn tradition?
READ MORE

Origin of wisp

1300–50; Middle English wisp, wips; akin to wipe
Related formswisp·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wisped

Historical Examples of wisped

  • 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 wisped

wisp

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 Formswisplike, adjective

Word Origin for wisp

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

WISP

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
Word Origin and History for wisped

wisp

n.

c.1300, "handful or bundle of hay, grass, etc.," used for burning or cleaning or as a cushion; perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word, cognate with Norwegian and Swedish visp "wisp," of unknown origin; sometimes said to be connected with whisk or with Middle Low German and Middle Dutch wispel "a measure of grain." Meaning "thin, filmy portion" first attested 1836.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper