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wisp

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wisp

  [wisp]
Use wisp in a Sentence
–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.
a. a pad or twist of straw, as used to rub down a horse.
b. a twisted bit of straw used as a torch.
7. a will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus.
–verb (used with object)
8. to twist into a wisp.
Origin:
1300–50; ME wisp, wips; akin to wipe

Related forms:
wisplike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Wisp
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www.ColgateWisp.com
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ig·nis fat·u·us   (ĭg'nĭs fāch'ōō-əs)   
n.   pl. ig·nes fat·u·i (ĭg'nēz fāch'ōō-ī')

  1. A phosphorescent light that hovers or flits over swampy ground at night, possibly caused by spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by rotting organic matter. Also called friar's lantern, jack-o'-lantern, will-o'-the-wisp, wisp.

  2. Something that misleads or deludes; an illusion.


[Medieval Latin : Latin ignis, fire + Latin fatuus, foolish.]
wisp   (wĭsp)   
n.  

  1. A small bunch or bundle, as of straw, hair, or grass.

    1. One that is thin, frail, or slight.

    2. A thin or faint streak or fragment, as of smoke or clouds.

  3. A fleeting trace or indication; a hint: a wisp of a smile.

  4. A flock of birds, especially snipe. See Synonyms at flock1.

  5. See ignis fatuus.

v.   wisped, wisp·ing, wisps

v.   tr.
To twist into wisps or a wisp.
v.   intr.
To drift in wisps: smoke wisping from chimneys.

[Middle English.]
wisp'i·ly adv., wisp'i·ness (wĭs'pē-nĭs) n., wisp'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wisp 
c.1300, "handful or bundle of hay, grass, etc.," used for burning or cleaning or as a cushion; perhaps from an unrecorded O.E. word, cognate with Norw. and Swed. visp "wisp," of unknown origin; sometimes said to be connected with whisk or with M.L.G. and M.Du. wispel "a measure of grain." Meaning "thin, filmy portion" first attested 1836.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

Wisp
["An Experiment with a Self-Compiling Compiler for a Simple List-Processing Language", M.V. Wilkes, Ann Rev Automatic Programming 4:1-48. (1964)].

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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