Man’s second noise of contempt (4)
I believe the answer is:
hiss
'noise of contempt' is the definition.
'man's second' is the wordplay.
'man's' becomes 'His' (belonging to a man).
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'his'+'s'='HISS'
(Other definitions for hiss that I've seen before include "Make disapproving sound" , "Sound of serpent" , "Sound of escaping gas" , "S-s-snake's s-s-sound?" , "Snake noise" .)