Hypertext Webster Gateway: "sibilant"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sibilant \Sib"i*lant\, a. [L. sibilans, -antis, p. pr. of
sibilare to hiss: cf. F. sibilant.]
Making a hissing sound; uttered with a hissing sound;
hissing; as, s, z, sh, and zh, are sibilant elementary
sounds. -- n. A sibiliant letter.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
sibilant
adj : produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as
`f'. `s', `z', or `th' (in both `thin' and `then'))
[syn: {fricative}, {spirant}]
n : a consonant characterized by a hissing sound (like s or sh)
[syn: {sibilant consonant}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.