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

Late in the album, the typically hushed “I Love You” tries something new, closing out with dramatic and bizarrely distorted percussion.

From The Wall Street Journal

"When the hammer fell, there was a hush — then applause."

From BBC

Grimes’ filtered coos and hushed vocals approximate cybernetic birdsong.

From Salon

Speaking quickly and in a hushed tone, Mr Hussain fired questions at our reporter about his cover story - the mini-mart and the immigration fine.

From BBC

Leaving Colorado, the airport gate was full of hushed conversations between people registering their disappointment with the movie.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• stillness