Sound of contempt greets ship (4)
I believe the answer is:
hiss
'sound of contempt' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'greets ship' is the wordplay.
'greets' becomes 'hi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'hi'+'ss'='HISS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hiss that I've seen before include "showing contempt?" , "less welcome sign?" , "Make snake-like noise" , "Jeer" , "Urgent whisper" .)