sizzle
[siz-uh l]
- to make a hissing sound, as in frying or burning.
- Informal. to be very hot: It's sizzling out.
- Informal. to be very angry; harbor deep resentment: I'm still sizzling over that insult.
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- to fry or burn with or as if with a hissing sound: to sizzle steaks on the grill; The sun sizzles the pavement.
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- a sizzling sound.
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Origin of sizzle
1595–1605; imitative; see -le
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sizzle on Thesaurus.com1. sputter, spatter, crackle, hiss.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sizzler
Contemporary Examples
The interview was so toothless, it felt more like eavesdropping on two patrons having lunch at the Sizzler.
Historical Examples
He is the kind of fire-cracker that you call a “sizzler”—all sputter and no explosion.
The Fall of the YearDallas Lore Sharp
He lined out the hottest kind of a sizzler over Chub's head and was ready to go to second when Post fielded it.
The Crimson SweaterRalph Henry Barbour
sizzler
- something that sizzles
- informal a very hot day
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sizzle
- to make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat
- informal to be very hot
- informal to be very angry
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- a hissing sound
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Word Origin
C17: of imitative origin. Compare siss (now dialect) to hiss, West Frisian size, siizje. See also fizz and fizzle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sizzler
sizzle
v.
c.1600, "to burn with a hissing sound," perhaps a frequentative form of Middle English sissen "hiss, buzz" (c.1300), of imitative origin. The figurative sense is attested from 1859. Related: Sizzled; sizzling. The noun is first recorded 1823.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper