noun
wisp
WISP/wɪsp/
A small, thin strand or delicate trace of something.
A delicate wisp of smoke rises from the extinguished candle.
Etymology
Wisp originally meant a handful or bundle of hay or grass, used for tasks such as cleaning or burning. The later sense extended to a thin, filmy portion, but the word’s deeper origin remains unknown.
In context
it lifted me up and carried me like a wisp of straw over fields
More examples
- She tucks a loose wisp of hair behind her ear.
- Wisps of cloud drift over the ridge.
- Only a wisp of the old memory remains.
Forms
wisp · wisps