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wisp

Posted on August 29, 2014August 27, 2014 by admin

wIsp

noun

1: a thin bundle, bunch, tuft, streak, or the like, as of straw, hair, or smoke.
A wisp of smoke from his cigarette twisted upwards to the ceiling.
She tucked the stray wisps of hair under her cap.

2: a thin or delicate person.
We feared this tiny wisp of a child would perish from the cold.

3: a faint or fleeting trace or hint.
She tried to appear unafraid, but a wisp of anxiety crossed her face when the phone rang.

transitive verb & intransitive verb

to twist (something) into, or form, a wisp or wisps.

This odd little yellow-faced woman, with a red handkerchief wisped round her head, and a singed grimness generally pervading her, handed over to him Minnie and Tom, casually remarking, “Bedad, it’s the big heavy lumps they are.”

Jet-black hair coiled in ropes, yet wisped white above the temples.

 

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