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Making a hissing sound; uttered with a hissing sound; hissing; as, s, z, sh, and zh, are sibilant elementary sounds. -- n.

To make sibilant; to change to a sibilant. J. Peile.

Change of a non-sibilant letter to a sibilant, as of -tion to - shun, duke to ditch.

To make a low, continuous, humming or sibilant sound, like that made by bees with their wings. Hence: To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice. Like a wasp is buzzed, and stung him. Longfellow. However these disturbers of our peace Buzz in the people's ears. Shak.

ed, probably, through the French. Etymologically C is related to g, h, k, q, s (and other sibilant sounds). Examples of these relations are in L. acutus, E. acute, ague; E. acrid, eagar; L. cornu, E. horn; E. cat, kitten; E. coy, quiet; L. circare, OF. cerchier, E. search.

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.

To pronounce the sibilant letter s imperfectly; to give s and z the sound of th; -- a defect common among children.

the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a consonanat, and is often called a sibilant, in allusion to its hissing sound. It has two principal sounds; one a more hissing, as in sack, this; the other a vocal hissing (the same as that of z), as in is, wise. Besides these it sometimes has the sounds of sh and zh,…

The quality or state of being sibilant; sibilation. Milton would not have avoided them for their sibilancy, he who wrote . . . verses that hiss like Medusa's head in wrath. Lowell.

Hissing; sibilant.

Having a hissing sound; hissing; sibilant. [R.] Pennant.

Applied to a palatal, a sibilant, or a dental consonant (as g in gem, c in cent, etc.) as distinguished from a guttural mute (as g in go, c in cone, etc.); -- opposed to hard.

rs limited to f, v, th surd and sonant, and the sound of German ch, -- thus excluding the sibilants, as well as the nasals, liquids, and semivowels. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 197-208.

To make a low, sibilant sound or noise. The hollow, whispering breeze. Thomson.

A hissing or sibilant sound such as that made by a flying bullet.