From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwispwisp /wɪsp/ noun [countable] 1 PIECEa wisp of hair, grass, hay etc is a thin piece of it that is separate from the restwisp of A wisp of hair had escaped from under her hat.2 LITTLE/NOT MUCHa wisp of smoke, cloud, mist etc is a small thin line of it that rises upwardswisp of Wisps of smoke rose into the air. → will o' the wisp —wispy adjective
Examples from the Corpus
wisp• Next comes a snap of a wisp of hair.• If there was any wisp of consciousness remaining, it was beyond the reach of instruments, and of memory.• Her body lay open before him, her only covering a few wisps of silk.• One wisp of smoke will not yearn for another.• Corbett steeled himself but Agatha only moved the wisps of blonde hair from her forehead.• Tiny wisps of ash floated up.• At dawn he'd woken up briefly, plagued by the vanishing wisps of a vague and irritating dream.• Smoke rose out of the crooked chimneys that poked through their roofs, white wisps trailing north with the wind.Origin wisp (1300-1400) Perhaps from whisk 