This feminine plural noun denotes sounds of hissing or whistling, appearing in two contrasting contexts. Judges 5:16 uses it for the 'whistlings' or 'pipings' for the flocks—shepherd signals to guide sheep (perhaps explaining why Reuben stayed among the sheepfolds instead of fighting). Jeremiah 18:16 employs it for sounds of derision: Jerusalem will become a desolation and 'hissing' (the Ketiv-Qere variation suggests textual uncertainty). The word can describe either a functional signal (whistling to animals) or a contemptuous sound (hissing at ruins), with context determining the sense.