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.]
1. A small bundle, as of straw or other like substance.
In a small basket, on a wisp of hay.
Dryden. 2. A whisk, or small broom.
3. A Will-o'-the-wisp; an ignis fatuus.
The wisp that flickers where no foot can tread.
Tennyson. Wisp
(Wisp), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wisped ; p. pr. & vb. n. Wisping.]
1. To brush or dress, an with a wisp.
2. To rumple. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Wispen
(Wisp"en) a. Formed of a wisp, or of wisp; as, a wispen broom. [Obs.]
Wisse
(Wis"se) v. t. [AS. wisian. See Wise, a.] To show; to teach; to inform; to guide; to direct. [Obs.]
Ere we depart I shall thee so well wisse
That of mine house ne shalt thou never misse.
Chaucer. Wist
(Wist) archaic imp. & p. p. of Wit, v. Knew.
Wistaria
(Wis*ta"ri*a) n. [NL.] [So named after Caspar Wistar, an American anatomist.] (Bot.) A genus
of climbing leguminous plants bearing long, pendulous clusters of pale bluish flowers.
The species commonest in cultivation is the Wistaria Sinensis from Eastern Asia. W. fruticosa grows
wild in the southern parts of the United States.
Wistful
(Wist"ful) a. [For wishful; perhaps influenced by wistly, which is probably corrupted from OE.
wisly certainly (from Icel. viss certain, akin to E. wit). See Wish.]
1. Longing; wishful; desirous.
Lifting up one of my sashes, I cast many a wistful, melancholy look towards the sea.
Swift. 2. Full of thought; eagerly attentive; meditative; musing; pensive; contemplative.
That he who there at such an hour hath been,
Will wistful linger on that hallowed spot.
Byron. — Wist"ful*ly, adv. — Wist"ful*ness, n.
Wistit
(Wis"tit), n. [Prob. from native name: cf. F. ouistiti.] (Zoöl.) A small South American monkey; a
marmoset. [Written also wistiti, and ouistiti.]
Wistly
(Wist"ly) adv. [See Wistful.] Attentively; observingly. [Obs.] Shak.
Wistonwish
(Wis"ton*wish) n. (Zoöl.) See Wishtonwish.
Wit
(Wit) v. t. & i. [inf. (To) Wit; pres. sing. Wot; pl. Wite; imp. Wist(e); p. p. Wist; p. pr. & vb.
n. Wit(t)ing. See the Note below.] [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know imp. wiste, AS. witan,
pres. wat, imp. wiste, wisse; akin to OFries. wita, OS. witan, D. weten, G. wissen, OHG. wizzan,
Icel. vita, Sw. veta, Dan. vide, Goth. witan to observe, wait I know, Russ. vidiete to see, L. videre,
