psstint.n.
/pst/, U.S. /pst/ A. int.
Used to attract attention or give warning, esp. surreptitiously. Also more generally: used to represent a hiss.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > attracting attention > call for attention [interjection]
loOE
lookOE
heya1225
halec1300
notac1392
what hoc1405
yoa1475
behold1535
hist1599
nota benea1721
see1863
psst1875
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > other vocal sounds > [interjection] > hiss to attract attention
pist1608
psst1875
1875 A. Daly Big Bonanza iii. i, in America's Lost Plays (1942) XX. 195 Bob. (Gyrating) Pst! (Beckoning Mrs. Balder, she crosses to R.) Don't mention this to Jack.
1899 Cent. Mag. Feb. 526/2 ‘Psst!’ The peculiar hiss which Italians make to attract attention came sharp and distinct from among the low growth of the chestnut shoots.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xi. [Sirens] 278 What is she? Hope she. Psst!
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xvi. 188 Buck hissed at him. ‘Psst. You got him. Leave him lay.’
1972 W. M. Estes Streetful of People i. 63 ‘Psst! You're going the wrong way,’ hissed Calvin Turnbough.
1975 New Yorker 13 Jan. 28/3 So now everybody is responding. Bresson is like that. Psst, psst, psst—the steam gathers, then the lid blows off.
1998 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 4 Jan. 17/4 Psst. Hey, kid, wanna see some filthy pictures?
B. n.
An utterance of ‘psst’; an instance of the sound ‘psst’.
ΚΠ
1963 V. Nabokov Gift v. 302 One could already hear the energetic ‘psst, psst’ of Shahmatov, who had been served the wrong order.
1996 Boston Globe (Nexis) 17 Feb. (Sports section) 75 Someone tried to get M.L. Carr's attention by giving him a quick ‘psst’. He didn't look up.
2003 Z. Packer Drinking Coffee Elsewhere 212 All her mother did was make a sound not unlike the steamy psst of the iron she was wielding.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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int.n.1875