wisp
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.
to twist into a wisp.
Origin of wisp
1Other words from wisp
- wisplike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for wisp (1 of 2)
/ (wɪsp) /
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 delicate: a wisp of a girl
a mere suggestion or hint
a flock of birds, esp snipe
(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
Origin of wisp
1Derived forms of wisp
- wisplike, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for WISP (2 of 2)
/ (wɪsp) /
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
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