hiss

Etymology

From Middle English hissen, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Middle Dutch hissen, hisschen.

noun

1. A sibilant sound, such as that made by a snake or escaping steam; an unvoiced fricative.
   Her voice was a hiss, like gas escaping from a bottle of soda. 1951, William Styron, chapter 6, in Lie Down in Darkness, New York: Vintage, published 1992, page 292
2. An expression of disapproval made using such a sound.
   1716, Joseph Addison, The Free-Holder, 16 April, 1716, London: D. Midwinter and J. Tonson, pp. 203-204, The Actors, in the midst of an innocent old Play, are often startled with unexpected Claps or Hisses; and do not know whether they have been talking like good Subjects, or have spoken Treason.

verb

1. (intransitive) To make a hissing sound.
   As I started to poke it, the snake hissed at me.
   The man came back, and said something in a lower voice, to which the other replied, “she sleeps,” or Ellena was deceived by the hissing consonants of some other words. 1797, Ann Ward Radcliffe, chapter 7, in The Italian, volume II, London: T. Cadell Jun. & W. Davies, page 236
   The frying pan hissed and sizzled as Ishvar gently slid ping-pong sized balls into the glistening oil. 1995, Rohinton Mistry, chapter 10, in A Fine Balance, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, page 487
2. (transitive) To call someone by hissing.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To condemn or express contempt (for someone or something) by hissing.
   The crowd booed and hissed her off the stage.
   The Play, perhaps, has many things amiss: Well, let us then reduce the point to this, Let only those that have no failings, hiss. 1793, Elizabeth Inchbald, Every One Has His Fault, London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, Prologue
   As the culprits went through the town and plantations they were laughed at, hissed, and hooted by the slaves […] 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 145
   How well I remember, her stepmother told her, the days when we Wagnerians used to hiss old Brahms—O for the rapturous rebellious days of youth. 1961, Walker Percy, The Moviegoer, New York: Ivy Books, published 1988, Part 1, Chapter 4, p. 38
4. (transitive) To utter (something) with a hissing sound.
   Lies oft o’erthrown with ceaseless Venom spread, Still hiss out Scandal from their Hydra Head, 1761, Robert Lloyd, An Epistle to C. Churchill, London: William Flexney, page 7
   It turns out that the driver of the red Ferrari that caused the crash wasn't, as I first guessed, a youngster, but a 60-year-old. Clearly, he had energy to spare, which was more than could be said about a panel I listened to around the same time as the crash. Indeed, someone hissed in my ear during a First Magazine awards ceremony in London's imposing Marlborough House on 7 December: "What we need is more old white men on the stage." December 14, 2011, John Elkington, “John Elkington”, in The Guardian
   2012, Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies, New York: Henry Holt, Part 2, “Master of Phantoms,” All day from the queen’s rooms, shouting, slamming doors, running feet: hissed conversations in undertones.
5. (intransitive) To move with a hissing sound.
   The arrow hissed through the air.
   The Troops of Troy recede with sudden Fear, While the swift Javelin hiss’d along in Air. 1718, Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, London: Bernard Lintott, Volume 4, Book 15, lines 690-691, p. 192
   All shod with steel We hissed along the polished ice […] 1815, William Wordsworth, “Influence of Natural Objects”, in Poems by William Wordsworth, volume 1, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, page 46
   Ennis del Mar wakes before five, wind rocking the trailer, hissing in around the aluminum door and window frames. 1997, Annie Proulx, “Brokeback Mountain”, in Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and Other Stories, London: Harper Perennial, published 2005, page 283
6. (transitive) To emit or eject (something) with a hissing sound.
   The man in white pyjamas hissed soda into his glass. 1938, Graham Greene, Brighton Rock, London: Heinemann, Part 2, Chapter 1, p. 72
   The radiator bubbled and hissed steam. 1939, John Steinbeck, chapter 26, in The Grapes of Wrath, New York: Viking, page 500
   He hissed air intently through a gap in his upper teeth. 1976, Ira Levin, The Boys from Brazil, New York: Dell, published 1977, Part 1, p. 16
7. (transitive) To whisper, especially angrily or urgently.
   "Are you quite sure of it," she hissed into his ear, "Mr Fang, Junior?" 1881, Elim Henry D'Avigdor, Across Country, Bradbury, Agnew
   "Oh please," she said, "don't let him see us!" I wouldn't let her push me away. "Stop!" she hissed. "He'll see us!" 1968, James A. Emanuel, Theodore L. Gross, Dark symphony