Etymology
Origin of hissing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Signs that a battery is about to fail include swelling, hissing, popping, an unusual odor and excessive heat, according to a New York Division of Homeland Security battery consumer guide.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
A slow, steady hissing noise comes from the table, similar to air leaking from a tire.
From Science Daily • Nov. 24, 2025
Only four days after their much-anticipated release into the big pond, the two beavers turned wild, charging and hissing when their foster parents visited.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025
Those voters are the equivalent of Robin Williams imitating a six-year-old sticking their tongue out and hissing, “I know you are but what am I?”
From Salon • May 29, 2025
And right now, as the hissing fire destroyed their cabin, Jackson dug deep for that feeling again.
From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
