HISS • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Hiss

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noun

Hiss n.

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." "A dismal, universal hiss, the sound Of public scorn."

Any sound resembling that above described; as:

(a)

The noise made by a serpent. "But hiss for hiss returned with forked tongue."

(b)

The note of a goose when irritated.

(c)

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

verb

Hiss v. t.

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

To utter with a hissing sound. "The long-necked geese of the world that are ever hissing dispraise."

Hiss v. i. (past & past part. hissed; pres. part. hissing)

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."

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."

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Etymology of 'Hiss'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Hiss" Quotes from Famous Books

... reached for it. My hand trembled. There were sixty or seventy dollars upon the table, and my own contribution was my last cent. As I fumbled I felt the strain of bodies pressing against mine, and heard the hiss of feverish breaths, and a foolish laugh or two. Nevertheless the silence ...

— Desert Dust • Edwin L. Sabin

... Then the band of harps and violins struck up a lively melody, and the deck was cleared for dancing; the sun dipping beneath the horizon during the proceeding, and the moon showing herself at their stern. The sea was so calm, that the soft hiss produced by the bursting of the innumerable bubbles of foam behind the paddles could be distinctly heard. The passengers who did not dance, including Cytherea and Springrove, lapsed into silence, leaning ...

— Desperate Remedies • Thomas Hardy

... then the hiss, as it seemed, of the coming blow! But instead of the pang she awaited, the sharp ring of breaking glass followed: he had thrown the whip through the window into the garden. The same moment he dragged his feet rudely from her embrace, and left the room. The devil ...

— Paul Faber, Surgeon • George MacDonald

... see here how savage a woman who was once impassioned will grow, until she has lost all her woman's nature. She kept the other four hours at her street-door, as if she were a public show. There was time to fetch a mob of Jesuits' followers, of honest Church artizans, to hoot and hiss, while children might help by throwing stones. For these four hours she was in the pillory. Some, however, of the more dispassionate passers-by asked if the Ursulines had gotten orders to let them kill the girl. We may guess what tender ...

— La Sorciere: The Witch of the Middle Ages • Jules Michelet

... "We turned into a gloomy forest and for some time saw nothing but a huge brown moth, which looked almost like a bat on the wing. Suddenly we heard high upon the trees a short shrieking sort of noise ending in a hiss, and our guide became excited and said, "Toucan!" The birds were very wary and made off. They are much in quest and often shot at. At last we caught sight of a pair, but they were at the top of such a high tree that they were out of range. ...

— Birds Illustrated by Color Photograph [January, 1897] - A Monthly Serial designed to Promote Knowledge of Bird-Life • Various

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