Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hissing"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hiss \Hiss\ v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Hissed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Hissing}.] [AS. hysian; prob. of imitative origin?; cf. LG.
hissen, OD. hisschen.]
1. To make with the mouth a prolonged sound like that of the
letter s, by driving the breath between the tongue and the
teeth; to make with the mouth a sound like that made by a
goose or a snake when angered; esp., to make such a sound
as an expression of hatred, passion, or disapproval.
The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee.
--Ezek. xxvii.
36.
2. To make a similar noise by any means; to pass with a
sibilant sound; as, the arrow hissed as it flew.
Shod with steel, We hissed along the polished ice.
--Wordsworth.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hissing \Hiss"ing\, n.
1. The act of emitting a hiss or hisses.
2. The occasion of contempt; the object of scorn and
derision. [Archaic]
I will make this city desolate, and a hissing.
--Jer. xix. 8.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hissing
adj : like a sustained `s'; "`hissing' is the sound a snake makes"
n : a fricative sound (especially as an expression of
disapproval); "the performers could not be heard over the
hissing of the audience" [syn: {hiss}, {sibilation}]
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