hush

American  

[huhsh] / hʌʃ /

interjection

1. (used as a command to be silent or quiet.)

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verb (used without object)

1. to become or be silent or quiet.

   They hushed as the judge walked in.

verb (used with object)

1. to make silent; silence.

2. to suppress mention of; keep concealed (often followed byup ).

   They hushed up the scandal.

3. to calm, quiet, or allay.

   to hush someone's fears.

noun

1. silence or quiet, especially after noise.

   Synonyms:

   tranquility, stillness, peace

2. Phonetics. either of the sibilant sounds (sh) and (zh).

adjective

1. Archaic. silent; quiet.

hush ¹ British  

/ hʌʃ /

verb

1. to make or become silent; quieten

2. to soothe or be soothed

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noun

1. stillness; silence

2. an act of hushing

interjection

1. a plea or demand for silence

hush ² British  

/ hʌʃ /

verb

1. to run water over the ground to erode (surface soil), revealing the underlying strata and any valuable minerals present

2. to wash (an ore) by removing particles of earth with rushing water

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noun

1. a gush of water, esp when artificially produced

Related Words

See still ¹.

Other Word Forms

• hushed adjective
• hushedly adverb
• hushful adjective
• hushfully adverb
• unhushing adjective

Etymology

Origin of hush

1350–1400; apparently back formation from husht whist ² ( Middle English huissht ), the -t being taken for past participle suffix

Example Sentences

A doctor talks in a hushed voice to a man and woman outside room 2B.

From Literature

The two stood side by side, the badger and the fox, the fox and the badger, hushed by the magnificence.

From Literature

Hard to say, but Scotland were hushed for too long in this game, too respectful of the visitors, not aggressive enough and too easily brushed off the ball, too flat, not enough edge.

From BBC

In the hush of horror that followed, there was a gentle pressure on my knees.

From Literature

She crouched down to speak to us, talking in a hushed voice.

From Literature

Related Words

• stillness