— sibilance, sibilancy , n. — sibilantly , adv.
/sib"euh leuhnt/ , adj.
1. hissing.
2. Phonet. characterized by a hissing sound; noting sounds like those spelled with s in this /dhis/ , rose /rohz/ , pressure /presh"euhr/ , pleasure /plezh"euhr/ , and certain similar uses of ch, sh, z, zh, etc.
n.
3. Phonet. a sibilant consonant.
[ 1660-70; sibilant- (s. of sibilans ), prp. of sibilare to hiss), equiv. to sibil ( us ) a hissing, whistling (of imit. orig.) + -ant- -ANT ]