Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (4)
1.
a small tuft or lock;
- Example: "wisps of hair"2.
a small person;
- Example: "a mere wisp of a girl"3.
a small bundle of straw or hay;
4.
a flock of snipe;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wisp \Wisp\, n. [OE. wisp, wips; probably akin to D. & G. wisch,
Icel. visk, and perhaps to L. virga a twig, rod. Cf. Verge
a rod, Whisk, n.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A small bundle, as of straw or other like substance.
[1913 Webster]
In a small basket, on a wisp of hay. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. A whisk, or small broom.
[1913 Webster]
3. A Will-o'-the-wisp; an ignis fatuus.
[1913 Webster]
The wisp that flickers where no foot can tread.
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Wisp \Wisp\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wisped; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wisping.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To brush or dress, an with a wisp.
[1913 Webster]
2. To rumple. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
wisp
n 1: a small tuft or lock; "wisps of hair"
2: a small person; "a mere wisp of a girl"
3: a small bundle of straw or hay
4: a flock of snipe
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):
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)].