sibilate
Make snake sounds
Sibilate is to make a hissing sound, like the letters S or Z produce.
Snakes sibilate; so do steam pipes and whispered warnings.
The word appears mostly in literary or technical contexts: The radiator sibilated in the corner.
The adjective sibilant describes these hissing sounds or the consonants that produce them.
Sharp sibilant sound
Speech without full voice
- lispSibilant pronunciation difficulty
- shushCommand for silence
- hushAbsence of sound
- susurrusSoft rustling sound
murmur · soft-spoken · undertone · breathy · quiet · intimate · confide · secrets
Heated water's gaseous form
- pressureForce upon contact
- valveFluid flow controller
- leakEscape through a breach
- escapeFlight from captivity
kettle · radiator · puncture · deflate · release · pipe · vent · gas
hiss
Sharp sibilant sound
fizz · rustle · shush · psst · swoosh · seethe · whiz · buzz · zap · zing
whisper
Speech without full voice
susurrus · murmur · soft-spoken · undertone · breathy · quiet · intimate · confide · secrets · sotto voce
steam
Heated water's gaseous form
escape · kettle · radiator · puncture · deflate · release · pipe · vent · gas · air
fricative
Consonant with audible friction
- consonantIn agreement with
- articulationClear vocal expression
- alveolarOf tooth sockets
dental · palatal · voiceless · voiced · affricate · aspiration · phoneme · allophone · strident · turbulence
snake
Limbless scaled reptile
rattlesnake · adder · asp · mamba · slither · tongue · scales · coil · strike · warning