Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small bunch or bundle, as of straw, hair, or grass.
- noun One that is thin, frail, or slight.
- noun A thin or faint streak or fragment, as of smoke or clouds.
- noun A fleeting trace or indication; a hint.
- noun A flock of birds, especially snipe.
- intransitive verb To twist into wisps or a wisp.
- intransitive verb To drift in wisps.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A handful or small bundle, as of straw or hay; a twisted handful.
- noun A whisk, or small broom.
- noun An ignis fatuus, or will-o'-the-wisp.
- noun A disease in cattle, consisting in inflammation and suppuration of the interdigital tissues, most commonly of the hind feet.
- noun In falconry, a flight or walk of snipe.
- To brush, dress, or rub down with or as with a wisp.
- To rumple.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To brush or dress, an with a wisp.
- transitive verb Prov. Eng. To rumple.
- noun A small bundle, as of straw or other like substance.
- noun A whisk, or small broom.
- noun A Will-o'-the-wisp; an ignis fatuus.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small
bundle , as ofstraw or other like substance; anyslender ,flexible structure orgroup . - verb To
brush ordress , as with a wisp. - verb UK, dialect To
rumple .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a small person
- noun a small tuft or lock
- noun a flock of snipe
- noun a small bundle of straw or hay
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And finally we see the spirit -- delicate, ethereal, a "faint ochre-colored cloud", a "thin wisp", "motes of dust dancing in the narrow beams of the robot's gaze" -- put into the robot/car, merged with it and transforming it into a deeply strange fusion of robot, automobile and rock.
Archive 2008-02-01 Hal Duncan 2008
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And finally we see the spirit -- delicate, ethereal, a "faint ochre-colored cloud", a "thin wisp", "motes of dust dancing in the narrow beams of the robot's gaze" -- put into the robot/car, merged with it and transforming it into a deeply strange fusion of robot, automobile and rock.
Strange Fiction in the Marketplace Hal Duncan 2008
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You don’t see that subverting all the hard earned rights of americans, to protect against a will o the wisp is clearly unpatriotic?
Think Progress » Rep. King: NYT Reporters Should Be Charged Under Espionage Act 2006
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A flock of snipe is called a wisp, although you usually flush them in singles and pairs.
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One such will o' the wisp was the claim in various Scottish media that the billionaire might join an investment group in refurbishing Lews Castle as a luxury hotel.
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Self-evidence is often a mere will-o'-the-wisp, which is sure to lead us astray if we take it as our guide.
Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays Bertrand Russell 1921
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Another assumption about the Levy on Capital that seems to me to be the merest will o 'the wisp is the delusion that the whole saving that it would entail by reducing the debt charge would necessarily and certainly go to the relief of income tax.
War-Time Financial Problems Hartley Withers 1908
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The old feudal lords would swear by the Almighty Father, or the Son, or Holy Ghost, or by everything sacred on earth, and break their oaths as they would break a wisp of straw: but if you could get one of them to swear by the Three Kings of Cologne, he was fast; for that oath he dare not disregard.
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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In olden days, it was personified as "Will with the wisp," a sprite who carried a fleeting "wisp" of light.
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In olden days, it was personified as "Will with the wisp," a sprite who carried a fleeting "wisp" of light.
hernesheir commented on the word wisp
A medicinal marijuana strain name.
January 15, 2010