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What is "hiss"

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hiss
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
hiss
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a banging/tearing/hissing etc sound
▪ There was an odd buzzing sound in her ears.
a cat hisses (=makes a low noise that shows fear or anger)
▪ Cats sometimes hiss at dogs.
a snake hisses (=makes a noise which sounds like 'ssss')
▪ The snake hissed at him and opened its mouth.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
tooth
▪ I hissed through my own teeth at it and tugged the rubber tighter, then tighter still.
▪ Miss Lewis hissed between her teeth.
■ VERB
hear
▪ She heard the faint hiss as the metal struck the water.
▪ All you could hear was air hissing out the pipe, like a gurgling sound, then hissing, then silence.
▪ After two minutes McCready heard his breath hiss out in triumph.
▪ Mavis heard the river; she heard the mill stacks hissing in the night, the gurgle of the aeration ponds.
▪ His words were not heard but the hissing of the voice carried a certain asperity.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "Are you crazy?" he hissed.
▪ a snake hissing
▪ Air hissed out of the tyre.
▪ Hundreds of people shouted and hissed at the prime minister.
▪ It sounded as though gas was hissing out of a pipe.
▪ Relatives of the victim hissed as the killer was led from the courtroom.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Blisters which had formed the first time now burst, weeping clear fluid on to the burner which hissed like an angry snake.
▪ He hissed those words under his breath, your friend, his fingers digging mindlessly into the clear plastic packets of prophylactics.
▪ I was booing and hissing the bad guys with the best of them, and I usually hate audience participation.
▪ Now he hisses and spins in jumps while powder ice clings to the air but by trade he's a long-haul skater.
▪ She hisses her disapproval, then snatches up the denims, and digs the key from one of the pockets.
▪ The flow from the tap stops - and there may be hissing or bubbling noises as well.
▪ They hissed, as evil as geese.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hiss

Hiss \Hiss\, v. t.

  1. To condemn or express contempt for by hissing.

    If the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him, according as he pleased and displeased them.
    --Shak.

    Malcolm. What is the newest grief? Ros. That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker.
    --Shak.

  2. To utter with a hissing sound.

    The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise.
    --Tennyson.

Hiss

Hiss \Hiss\, n.

  1. A prolonged sound like that letter s, made by forcing out the breath between the tongue and teeth, esp. as a token of disapprobation or contempt.

    ``Hiss'' implies audible friction of breath consonants.
    --H. Sweet.

    A dismal, universal hiss, the sound Of public scorn.
    --Milton.

  2. Any sound resembling that above described; as:

    1. The noise made by a serpent.

      But hiss for hiss returned with forked tongue.
      --Milton.

    2. The note of a goose when irritated.

    3. The noise made by steam escaping through a narrow orifice, or by water falling on a hot stove.

Hiss

Hiss \Hiss\ (h[i^]s). v. i. [imp. & p. p. Hissed (h[i^]st); 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.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
hiss

late 14c., of imitative origin. Johnson wrote, "it is remarkable, that this word cannot be pronounced without making the noise which it signifies." Related: Hissed; hissing.

hiss

1510s, from hiss (v.).

Wiktionary
hiss

n. 1 A high-pitched sound made by a snake, cat, escaping steam, etc. 2 An expression of disapproval made to sound like the noise of a snake. vb. (context intransitive English) To make a hissing sound.

Related phrases:
WordNet
hiss

  1. n. a fricative sound (especially as an expression of disapproval); "the performers could not be heard over the hissing of the audience" [syn: hissing, sibilation]

  2. a cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt [syn: boo, hoot, Bronx cheer, raspberry, razzing, snort, bird]

  3. v. make a sharp hissing sound, as if to show disapproval [syn: siss, sizz, sibilate]

  4. move with a whooshing sound [syn: whoosh]

  5. express or utter with a hiss [syn: sizz, siss, sibilate]

  6. show displeasure, as after a performance or speech [syn: boo] [ant: applaud]

Wikipedia
Hiss (electromagnetic)

Electromagnetic hiss is a naturally occurring Extremely Low Frequency/ Very Low Frequency electromagnetic wave (i.e., 300 Hz – 10 kHz) that is generated in the plasma of either the Earth's ionosphere or magnetosphere. Its name is derived from its incoherent, structureless spectral properties which, when played through an audio system, sound like white noise (hence the onomatopoetic name, "hiss").

Hiss (surname)

Hiss is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

  • Alger Hiss (1904–1996), U.S. State Department employee and an accused Soviet spy
  • Donald Hiss (1906–1989), younger brother of Alger Hiss
  • Mike Hiss (born 1941), former driver in the USAC Championship Car series
  • Yehuda Hiss, chief pathologist at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine
Hiss

Hiss or Hissing may refer to:

  • Hiss (surname)
  • Sibilant, a group of consonants that have a hissing or hushing sound
  • Tape hiss, high frequency noise present on analogue magnetic tape recordings
  • Electronic circuit hiss, white noise (electronics) present at low level in all electronic circuits
  • Hiss (electromagnetic), an electromagnetic wave phenomenon
  • Hiss, white noise on tape recorders, phones, MP3 players, speakers, headsets etc
  • Hissing (manhwa), a Korean manhwa series by Kang EunYoung
  • The Hiss, a five piece rock band from Atlanta, Georgia
  • H.I.S.S., Honda Ignition Security System vehicle immobiliser

Usage examples of "hiss".

I reached around and grabbed the belt and hissed as fabric abraided my skin.

Now a sleet of bullets hissed through their ranks as they retired, and the gallant Lord Airlie, as modest and brave a soldier as ever drew sword, was struck through the heart.

Mary was just prevented from hissing it out by Alee entering through the open door.

They had brought with them a thing of the Great World, Hresh carrying one end and Taniane the other: that hollow tube of metal, hooded at one end, with a region of incomprehensible blackness held captive within that hood, and brilliant light sizzling and hissing at its entrance.

The news passed quickly around the village, and the he-anophelii came in great numbers to croon with Aum and hiss their feelings.

The second time she had heard them hiss with whatever passed for pleasure in their minds, and the next day, when she entered the meeting room with Aum, the Lovers stared at her with fresh wounds, blood crusting on their foreheads, scored deep in mirror images across their faces.

She went out the hissing doors and, with hundreds of other calm baggageless passengers, she waited for the bus she knew would take her south and into the mountains.

Resolute hissed at Banausic, as multiple individuals moved from the shadows in the warehouse district in Otedo.

Kerri and Bender alone with only the hissing of the oxygen to mar the silence.

As he dances by, feebly whacking the drum, Berel hears Mutterperl hiss.

Presently, after threading their way among a multitude of locomotives, with and without trains attached, that backed and advanced, or stood still, hissing impatiently on every side, they passed through the station to a broad planking above the river on the other side, and thence, after encounter of more locomotives, they found, by dint of much asking, a street winding up the hill-side to the left, and leading to the German Bierhaus that gives access to the best view of the cataract.

They excused themselves and went together to a chill rear chamber, where biogas flames hissed a continual cautionary note.

But the life-cry of that love has long since hissed away into no more than this idle and bitchy faggotry.

With huge pronged poles they pitched hissing masses of blubber into the scalding pots, or stirred up the fires beneath, till the snaky flames darted, curling, out of the doors to catch them by the feet.

The forty-foot barrels of the nine-inch guns moved restlessly, seeming to sniff for their prey, and the Blucher raced on, lifting a hissing white wave at her bows, vibrating and shuddering to the thrust of her engines as they built up to full speed.