hissing

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɪsɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsɪŋ

Verb

hissing

1. present participle and gerund of hiss
   • 1941 August, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The English Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 357:

     Our solid, shiny chairs, our immense, dingy sofas, our heavy mahogany tables and our cast-iron fenders, often bearing the initials of long-dead railway companies, likewise our plaster walls of chocolate and duck-egg green and our hissing gasoliers have their roots deep in our national history.

Adjective

hissing (comparative more hissing, superlative most hissing)

1. that produces or is accompanied with a hiss

Noun

hissing (plural hissings)

1. The sound of a hiss.
   • 1875, John Lothrop Motley, The Life and Death of John of Barneveld Advocate of Holland:

     The hissings and screamings of the vulgar against him as he moved forward on his stedfast course he heeded less than those of geese on a common.

Derived terms

• hissing adder
• hissing hot