wisp

plural wisps

1. countableuncountableA small bundle, as of straw or other like substance; a twisted handful of something; any slender, flexible structure or group.

   a wisp of a child

   2 more examples

   A wisp of hair escaped her barrette and whipped wildly in the wind.

   in a small basket, on a wisp of hay

   1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Third Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC

2. countableuncountableA small, thin line of cloud, smoke, or steam.

   A wisp of smoke rose from the candle for a few moments after he blew it out.

   1 more example

   Across the country a wisp of smoke showed, then gunyahs, and in a moment more we were right in the bush camp.

   1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 83

3. countableuncountableA whisk, or small broom.
4. countableuncountableA will o' the wisp, or ignis fatuus.

   the wisp that flickers where no foot can tread

   1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

5. countableuncountableAn immeasurable, indefinable essence of life; soul.

   “She would get nothing from him, she saw, resentfully. Then some angel of grace lent her a few wisps, which she grasped.

   1982, Kamala Markandaya, Shalimar, Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 154

   5 more examples

   Apparently it had been too much; for his sleep, though deep as death itself, was not dreamless this time, but threaded with ghostly wisps of dreams.

   1987, John E. Woods, Patrick Süskind, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer=Das Parfum, Pocket Books, page 163

   He was a wisp of spirit — all his substance, the meat of his being, the coat of flesh that had always slowed him, had long since slipped away. He knew he was in two places.

   2006, Paul Theroux, Blinding Light: A Novel, Mariner Book, →ISBN, page 84

   The morning we stood on Monte de Gozo,and saw the cathedral spires as though floating in the distance, the sun was already making its ascent into the pale sky. It was difficult for me to accept that our journey was nearly over. Santiago had grown into much more than a destiny in my mind; it was the culmination of all that it meant to be human, and I feared that my spirit, no more than a wisp on this earth, would evaporate when the clouds decided to part.

   2008, Cecilia Samartin, Tarnished Beauty: A Novel, Atria Books, →ISBN, page 301

   We entered the shed. The thick density of the smoke made it nigh impossible to distinguish anyone. It was like seeing wisps of spirits trailing IVs, shrouded bodies on the precipice of a low-key volcano.

   2011, Ken Bruen, Headstone, Mysterious Press, →ISBN, page 189

   A faint layer of dew lay on the freshly turned earth. It steamed slightly, where the sun touched it, wisps of ghosts rising up from the ground.

   2017, Cameron Dokey, Belle, Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, →ISBN, page 134

6. archaiccollectivecountableuncountableA flock of snipe.

   Wisps of snipe and badlings of duck sprang into the air

   1921 October, Samuel Scoville Jr., “High Sky”, in Mary Mapes Dodge, editor, St. Nicholas, volume XLVIII, page 1062

   2 more examples

   They shift their quarters in the early part of the season very suddenly, and if a man hears of a wisp of snipe in any particular place, he must be off at once.

   1861, Horace William Wheelwright, Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist, page 99

   A flock of snipe is given the collective name of a "wisp", perhaps due to its rapid twisting and turning before the birds drop down again.

   1988, Michael Cady, Rob Hume, editors, The Complete Book of British Birds, page 158

7. uncountableA disease affecting the feet of cattle.

present singular third person wisps · participle present wisping · participle past wisped · past wisped

1. transitiveTo brush or dress, as with a wisp.

   The very same head of hair, wisp'd, and matted together, would make the most disagreeable figure.

   1753, William Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty

2. UKdialectalobsoleteTo rumple.
3. intransitiveTo produce a wisp, as of smoke.

   1 more example

   To Temple, sitting in the cottonseed-hulls and the corn-cobs, the sound was no louder than the striking of a match: a short, minor sound shutting down the scene, the instant, with a profound finality, completely isolating it, and she sat there, her legs straight before her, her hands limp and palm-up on her lap, looking at Popeye's tight back and the ridges of his coat across his shoulders as he leaned out the door, the pistol behind him, against his flank, wisping thinly along his leg.

   1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 70

4. transitiveTo emit in wisps.

   It looked warm and rosy-bright inside, with a little chimney wisping smoke, little windows glowing.

   2011, Iain Lawrence, The Winter Pony, page 219

plural WISPs

1. abbreviationacronymAcronym of wireless internet service provider.