pshw pshw.

n.  the sound of a pretend gun firing.

<One of my trainmates was reading a Chinese magazine called “Police World.”  Half the pictures were of scantily clad lasses, and half were of handcuffed people being led away by “the fuzz.”  I pointed at the criminals, making a pretend pistol with my fingers.  I went “pshw, pshw,” and looked questioningly at the magazine’s owner.  He laughed and nodded.  —Paddy Carroll, “Beijing and Xinjiang.”>

pss ssss.

n.  the sound of people whispering, as in Tourmaline: A Novel by Joanna Scott.

psss.

n.  a variation of psst; see also fsst, pssst, psst, ssss, ssstt.

<Psss, over there.  That’s him.  —Joanna Scott, Tourmaline: A Novel.>

n.  the hiss of a carbonated beverage can being opened; see also shhhhht, sssss.

<There is no sound in the raft, either, except for the psss of a can being opened.  Dominy is having one more beer.  —John McPhee, Encounters with the Archdruid.>

n.  the hissing of air from a punctured bicycle tire.

<Psss. ... Nothing hisses quite so sweetly as a rival’s puncture.  —Tim Krabbe, The Rider.>

- END OF PREVIEW - To read more, see the "Search Inside" feature at Amazon.com