[his] 
| 1. | to make or emit a sharp sound like that of the letter s prolonged, as a snake does, or as steam does when forced under pressure through a small opening. |
| 2. | to express disapproval or contempt by making this sound: The audience hissed when the actor forgot his lines. |
| 3. | to express disapproval of by hissing: The audience hissed the controversial play. |
| 4. | to silence or drive away by hissing (usually fol. by away, down, etc.): They hissed down the author when he tried to speak. |
| 5. | to utter with a hiss. |
| 6. | a hissing sound, esp. one made in disapproval. |
[his] | Alger, 1904–96, U.S. public official, accused of espionage 1948 and imprisoned for perjury 1950–54. |
| hiss (hĭs) n.
v. intr. To make a hiss: The audience booed and hissed. The teakettle hissed on the stove. v. tr.
[Middle English hissen, to hiss, of imitative origin.] hiss'er n. |
| Hiss (hĭs) American public official. Accused of espionage at the height of the Communist scare, he was convicted of perjury (1950) in a controversial case. |
Hiss
to express contempt (Job 27:23). The destruction of the temple is thus spoken of (1 Kings 9:8). Zechariah (10:8) speaks of the Lord gathering the house of Judah as it were with a hiss: "I will hiss for them." This expression may be "derived from the noise made to attract bees in hiving, or from the sound naturally made to attract a person's attention."
