hush

[ huhsh ]
See synonyms for hush on Thesaurus.com
interjection
  1. (used as a command to be silent or quiet.)

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 by up): They hushed up the scandal.

  1. to calm, quiet, or allay: to hush someone's fears.

noun
  1. silence or quiet, especially after noise.

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

adjective
  1. Archaic. silent; quiet.

Origin of hush

1
1350–1400; apparently back formation from hushtwhist2 (Middle English huissht), the -t being taken for past participle suffix

synonym study For hush

2, 3. See still1.

Other words for hush

Other words from hush

  • hush·ed·ly [huhsh-id-lee, huhsht-lee], /ˈhʌʃ ɪd li, ˈhʌʃt li/, adverb
  • hushful, adjective
  • hush·ful·ly, adverb
  • un·hush·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hush in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hush (1 of 2)

hush1

/ (hʌʃ) /


verb
  1. to make or become silent; quieten

  2. to soothe or be soothed

noun
  1. stillness; silence

  2. an act of hushing

interjection
  1. a plea or demand for silence

Origin of hush

1
C16: probably from earlier husht quiet!, the -t being thought to indicate a past participle

Derived forms of hush

  • hushed, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for hush (2 of 2)

hush2

/ (hʌʃ) mining, Northern English /


verb(tr)
  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

noun
  1. a gush of water, esp when artificially produced

Origin of hush

2
C18: of imitative origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012