sibilant, a. and n.
(ˈsɪbɪlənt)
[a. L. sībilant-, sībilans, pres. pple. of sībilāre to hiss, whistle. In 1 b directly a. F. sibilant.]
A. adj.
1. a. Having a hissing sound; of the nature of, characterized by, hissing.
| 1669 Holder Elem. Speech 45 It were easie to add a Nasal Letter to each of the other pair of Lisping and Sibilant Letters. 1817 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1818) II. 240 A third [insect] of the same tribe..emits a small sibilant or chirping noise. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain vii, The language..had become less sibilant, and more guttural. 1880 19th Cent. XXXIX. 829 The ghost of Shakspere..would probably join in the sibilant chorus. |
b. spec. in Pathol. (See quots.)
| 1833 Cycl. Pract. Med. I. 229 The dry bronchial rhonchus..includes two varieties, the sibilant and sonorous rhonchus. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. (1878) 388 As a general rule, hissing and whistling sounds or sibilant rhonchi arise in the smaller tubes. 1898 Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 30 The respiratory murmur..may be replaced by sibilant râles. |
2. Making a hissing or whistling sound.
| 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 530 Sibilant Snake. Coluber sibilans. a 1876 M. Collins Pen Sketches (1879) I. 77 Horse chestnuts and elms and sibilant poplars in front. |
B. n.
1. A speech-sound having a hissing effect; a sound of the nature of s.
| 1788 W. Jones in Asiatick Researches I. 11 Next come different classes of dentals, and among the first of them should be placed the sibilants. 1822 J. Thelwall Poet. Recreat. 165 There must be no clashing of consonants, no hissing of sibilants, particularly in the termination of the lines. 1844 Proc. Philol. Soc. I. 195 A sibilant of which the exact sound is still a matter of some doubt. 1876 S. Birch Rede Lect. on Egypt 32 The final sigma of the Greeks is represented by the Egyptian sibilant. |
2. A rumour started and spread for propaganda or advertising purposes. Cf. whisper n. 2.
| 1957 Observer 27 Oct. 18/7 The sib-spreader, that fortunate extrovert with a cast-iron digestion who is employed to dash about bars and cocktail parties spreading carefully composed sibilants or selling rumours. 1958 [see sib n.3]. |
Hence ˈsibilantly adv.
| 1891 Harper's Mag. Apr. 739/1 It echoed sibilantly. |