Crossword Genius

May purr, or turn up with a hiss (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

puss

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'may purr' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.

'turn up with a hiss' is the wordplay.
'turn' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'a hiss' becomes 'ss' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'up' back-to-front is 'pu'.
'pu'+'ss'='PUSS'

'or' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for puss that I've seen before include "For example, a Persian" , "clock" , "It might be a tortoiseshell" , "Feline" , "Moggie" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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