Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A delusive or misleading hope.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The ignis fatuus; hence, any person or thing that deludes or misleads by dazzling, visionary, or evanescent appearances. Also will-in-the-wisp, will-with-a-wisp, and Jack o' lantern.
- noun A common fresh-water alga, Nostoc commune: so named from its sudden and seemingly mysterious appearance. See
Nostoc .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun See
ignis fatuus .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative spelling of
will o' the wisp .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a pale light sometimes seen at night over marshy ground
- noun an illusion that misleads
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Dim will-o'-the-wisp glows came from the warm globes of the street lamps overhead.
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A torch light, erratic as a will-o'-the-wisp, was weaving towards him from the direction of the Grange.
She Closed Her Eyes 2010
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That is, the media have been chasing a will-o'-the-wisp for the better part of a year, whipping car buyers and Congress into a frenzy.
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That is, the media have been chasing a will-o'-the-wisp for the better part of a year, whipping car buyers and Congress into a frenzy.
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I may be on the trail in this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I shall soon know which it is.
Sole Music 2010
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The audience is shivering, and that's not just down to Warpaint's eldritch, will-o'-the-wisp music.
Warpaint; Rumer – review Kitty Empire 2010
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The other man of the hour at the time, former Speaker Newt Gingrich was a will-o'-the-wisp compared to Limbaugh and his staying power.
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Without their steady stream of oil money to keep will-o'-the-wisp economies from sinking into the bog, they are in serious trouble.
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People are "pursuing a will-o'-the-wisp if they think by just letting the dollar slide enough, the trade balance will turn around," says Ronald McKinnon,
Weak Dollar Meets 2008
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Pauline cringes at the heartache Chick inflicted as a demanding child, obnoxious teen and brusque, oblivious adult chasing the will-o'-the-wisp of a baseball career.
Book ~ "For One More Day" - Mitch Albom (2006) Teena in Toronto 2007
treeseed commented on the word will-o'-the-wisp
See corpse candle
February 23, 2008
gangerh commented on the word will-o'-the-wisp
I thought this should have been lil-o'-the-lisp.
April 21, 2008
epopticamarie commented on the word will-o'-the-wisp
twilight hovering bog lights
March 31, 2009